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CANE 

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THE 

GOLD-HEADED   CANE. 


THE 
GOLD-HEADED  CANE 

BY 

WILLIAM  MACMICHAEL'M'D' 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

SIR  WILLIAM  OSLER,  B.  A.,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S. 

AND  A  PREFACE  BY 

FRANCIS  R.  PACKARD,  M.D. 


NEW  YORK 

PAUL'B'HOEBER 
1915 


.    Copyright,  1915 
By  PAUL  B.  HOEBER 


Published  April,   1916 


Printed  in  the  U.  S.  A. 


INTRODUCTION. 

It  is  very  fitting  that  a  new  edition  of  the 
Gold  Headed  Cane  should  appear  just  at  this 
time,  as  a  memorial  of  the  life  and  labours  of 
its  first  owner,  Dr.  John  Radcliffe.  Here  in 
Oxford,  where  his  name  is  writ  large  in  stone, 
we  had  hoped  to  have  ceremonies  appropriate 
to  the  200th  anniversary  of  his  death,  but  at 
present  the  University  has  other  things  to  think 
of.  The  Radcliffe  Trustees  have,  however,  ar- 
ranged with  Dr.  Nias  and  the  Clarendon  Press 
to  issue  a  brief  life  and  an  account  of-  the  Trav- 
elling Fellows,  with  whom  his  name  is  associ- 
ated. When  and  where  he  got  the  celebrated 
cane  is  unknown.  To  the  story  of  his  life  so 
well  told  here  by  Dr.  Macmichael  nothing  need 
be  added.  There  is  probably  no  name  in  our 
profession  with  which  are  associated  so  many 
benefactions.  The  Radcliffe  Infirmary,  orig- 
inally erected  by  his  Trustees  out  of  their 
funds,  has  become  one  of  the  most  important 


vi  INTRODUCTION. 

of  the  county  hospitals  in  England;  but  the 
Trustees  no  longer  have  any  financial  interest 
in  its  support.  The  Radcliffe  Observatory 
was  built  by  them  and  they  pay  the  upkeep 
and  the  salary  of  the  Radcliffe  Observer.  The 
Radcliffe  Camera  or  Library,  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  buildings  in  Oxford,  was  designed 
for  the  scientific  part  of  the  Bodleian  Library. 
After  the  laboratories  were  centred  about  the 
museum  it  was  found  more  convenient  to  have 
the  scientific  books  close  at  hand,  and  one  of 
the  old  Guilds,  the  Draper's  Company  of  Lon- 
don, put  up  a  beautiful  new  building  in  which 
the  Radcliffe  Library  is  now  housed,  all  the 
expenses  of  which  are  paid  by  the  Trustees. 
Also  under  Dr.  Radcliffe's  will  £600  a  year 
is  paid  to  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital.  The 
property  is  largely  in  land  not  far  from  Stony 
Stratford.  In  addition,  he  left  his  Yorkshire 
estate  to  the  Master  and  Fellows  of  University 
College,  to  provide  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
Travelling  Fellows:  one  is  elected  each  year 
and  holds  the  appointment,  worth  <£200,  for 


INTRODUCTION.  vii 

three  years,  one  of  the  conditions  being  that  he 
spends  half  of  the  time  in  studying  abroad. 
These  splendid  benefactions  keep  alive  the 
name  of  Dr.  RadclifFe  in  Oxford  and  in  profes- 
sional circles. 

In  many  ways  the  account  of  Mead  is  the 
best  in  the  volume.  Of  him  Johnson  is  re- 
ported to  have  said  that  he  lived  more  in  the 
sunshine  of  life  than  any  man  he  knew.  Dr. 
Macmichael  in  this  little  volume  has  done  more 
for  Mead's  memory  than  his  published  works. 
It  is  a  pity  that  he  did  not  hand  over  his  won- 
derful collections  to  the  College  of  Physicians. 
Now  the  bibliophile  turns  the  pages  of  the 
printed  catalogue  of  his  books,  which  took 
twenty-seven  days  to  sell,  and  mourns  that  the 
treasures  of  his  lifetime  should  have  been  dis- 
persed. 

About  the  next  possessor  of  the  Cane,  An-^ 
thony  Askew,  the  memory  lingers  in  connec- 
tion with  the  famous  Bibliotheca  Askeviana, 
the  priceless  treasures  of  which  were  dispersed 
in  1775  in  a  twenty  days'  sale.     Only  one  of 


viii  INTRODUCTION. 

the  great  libraries  collected  by  physicians  in  the 
18th  century  remains.  William  Hunter  had 
the  good  sense  to  leave  his  books,  coins,  manu- 
scripts and  specimens  to  his  native  place,  and 
the  Hunterian  Library  and  Museum  are 
among  the  most  precious  possessions  of  Glas- 
gow University. 

Pitcairn  is  remembered  to-day  solely  from 
his  association  with  the  Cane.  In  the  rambling 
section  under  his  name,  Macmichael  does  not 
tell  us  much  about  him,  and  leaves  us  a  little  in 
doubt  when  he  died,  and  whether  or  not  his 
nephew,  David,  was  one  of  the  possessors  of 
the  Cane.  As  a  practitioner  he  appears  to 
have  picked  up  the  secret  of  Sydenham's  suc- 
cess, the  free  use  of  opium,  as  in  the  book  he 
speaks  of  his  currus  triumphalis  opii. 

Baillie,  in  many  ways  the  most  distinguished 
possessor  of  the  Cane,  had  caught  the  inspira- 
tion from  his  uncles  John  and  William 
Hunter,  and  to  him  more  than  to  any  other 
man  is  due  that  close  combination  of  pathology 
with  clinical  medicine,  still  the  distinguishing 


INTRODUCTION.  ix 

feature  of  the  English  school,  and  of  which 
such  splendid  use  was  made  by  Bright,  Addi- 
son, and  Hodgkin. 

Few  books  of  its  kind  have  been  more  suc- 
cessful, and  that  a  new  edition  should  appear 
from  the  press  of  Mr.  Hoeber  is  an  indication 
of  the  zeal  with  which  the  study  of  the  history 
of  medicine  has  been  taken  up  by  the  profes- 
sion of  the  United  States. 

Oxford, 
February  26th,  1915. 


PREFACE 

William  Macmichael,  the  author  of  the 
Gold-Headed  Cane,  was  born  at  Bridgenorth, 
in  Shropshire,  in  1784,  and  after  receiving  his 
education  at  the  grammar  school  of  that  town, 
entered  as  a  student  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford, 
where,  after  receiving  his  degree  of  Master  of 
Arts  in  1807,  he  graduated  as  a  Doctor  of 
Medicine  in  1816.  In  1811,  he  was  elected  to 
the  Radcliffe  Travelling  Fellowship  which 
owed  its  foundation  to  the  generosity  of  Dr. 
Radcliffe,  about  whom  he  writes  so  delight- 
fully in  his  chef  d'ceuvre.  These  fellowships 
were  founded  with  the  purpose  of  giving  their 
holders  the  opportunity  of  travel  in  foreign 
lands,  and  Dr.  Macmichael  passed  several 
years  journeying  in  Russia,  Turkey,  Greece 
and  Palestine.  That  he  was  an  observing  and 
interested  traveller  is  manifested  in  a  little 
work  which  he  published  in  London  in  1819, 
entitled  "  A  Journey  from  Moscow  to  Con- 
stantinople, in  the  Years  1817  and  1818." 
He  was,  for  a  short  time,  physician  to  Lord 


xii  PREFACE. 

Londonderry  while  the  latter  was  ambassador 
to  Vienna.  He  settled  in  London  in  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine  in  1818,  and  was  elected  a  fel- 
low of  the  College  of  Physicians  of  London  in 
the  same  year.  At  the  outset  of  his  career  as 
a  practicing  physician,  he  had  the  good  fortune 
to  secure  the  friendship  of  Sir  Henry  Half ord, 
to  whom  the  College  was  indebted  for  the  gift 
of  the  Gold-Headed  Cane,  which  had  de- 
scended to  Sir  Henry  from  the  distinguished 
line  of  bearers  about  whom  Macmichael  cen- 
tered its  autobiography.  Sir  Henry  Half ord's 
influence  in  professional  and  social  circles  in 
London  was  immense.  His  name  was  really 
Henry  Vaughan.  His  father  was  a  physician 
in  Leicester,  who  devoted  his  entire  income  to 
the  education  of  his  seven  sons,  all  of  whom 
proved  themselves  worthy  of  the  parental  self- 
denial  by  the  eminent  positions  which  they  sub- 
sequently obtained  in  the  professions  which 
they  respectively  adopted.  Sir  Henry,  after 
graduating  from  Oxford,  secured  an  advan- 
tageous social  position  for  himself  by  his  mar- 
riage to  the  daughter  of  Lord  St.  John  of 
Bletsoe.  He  inherited  a  large  property  on 
the  death  of  Lady  Denbigh,  the  widow  of  his 


PREFACE.  xiii 

mother's  cousin,  Sir  Charles  Halford,  Bart., 
and  by  an  act  of  Parliament,  in  1809,  changed 
his  name  from  Vaughan  to  Halford.  In  the 
subsequent  year  he  was  made  a  baronet.  He 
attended  in  a  professional  capacity  George 
III,  George  IV  and  Queen  Victoria,  and  after 
the  death  of  Matthew  Baillie,  he  had  the  larg- 
est and  most  fashionable  practice  in  London. 
Halford  was  the  president  of  the  College  of 
Physicians  of  London  from  1820  until  his 
death  in  1844,  and  it  was  during  his  presidency 
that  the  College  was  removed  from  Warwick 
Lane  to  Pall  Mall  East.  Those  who  envied 
his  position  attributed  his  success  to  his  courtly 
manners,  and  he  was  nicknamed  "  the  eel- 
backed  baronet."  The  story  is  told  that  he 
galloped  from  the  death  bed  of  George  IV  out 
to  Bushy  Park  in  order  that  he  might  have 
the  honor  of  being  the  first  to  inform  William 
IV  of  the  glad  event.  He  was  present  at  the 
opening  of  the  coffin  of  Charles  I,  in  1813,  and 
published  an  account  of  the  proceedings  on 
that  occasion.  J.  F.  Clarke,  in  his  autobiog- 
raphy, accuses  Halford,  amongst  other  things, 
of  retaining  possession  of  part  of  the  King's 
fourth   cervical  vertebra   through  which   the 


xiv  PREFACE. 

axe  passed,  and  displaying  it  at  his  dinner 
table  as  an  interesting  curio. 

Halford,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Munk,  "  at  the 
height  of  his  success,  and  when  his  duties  at 
Court  were  the  most  onerous,  found  it  neces- 
sary to  have  in  reserve  some  physician  on 
whom  he  could  implicitly  rely,  to  act  as  his 
representative  and  substitute  when  such  was 
needed.  His  choice  fell  on  Dr.  Macmichael, 
who,  through  Sir  Henry's  influence,  was  ap- 
pointed in  rapid  succession  Physician  Extraor- 
dinary to  the  King  in  1829,  Librarian  to  the 
King  in  1830,  in  place  of  a  very  eminent 
physician,  Dr.  Gooch,  recently  deceased;  and 
finally,  in  1831,  Physician  in  Ordinary  to  the 
King?' 

Halford  had  been  obliged  to  resign  his  po- 
sition as  physician  to  the  Middlesex  Hospital, 
owing  to  the  pressure  of  other  duties,  as  early 
as  1800;  but  it  was  probably  due  to  his  influ- 
ence that  twenty-two  years  later  Macmichael 
was  appointed  to  the  same  position.  Mac- 
michael was  very  active  in  the  affairs  of  the 
College  of  Physicians,  served  among  its  offi- 
cers on  several  occasions,  and  read  a  number 
of  communications  before  it.     He  wrote  vari- 


PREFACE.  xv 

ous  articles  on  contagion  and  infection,  none 
of  them  possessing  any  great  value.  In  spite 
of  powerful  backing  and  the  important  posi- 
tions he  held,  Dr.  Macmichael  lacked  the  am- 
bition or  did  not  possess  the  aptitude  to  acquire 
a  large  practice. 

In  1830  Macmichael  published  "  Lives  of 
British  Physicians,"  of  which  another  edition 
was  published  by  Thomas  Tegg  in  1846. 
Macmichael  himself  contributed  to  it  the  lives 
of  Linacre,  Caius,  Harvey,  Sir  Thomas 
Browne,  Sydenham  and  Radcliffe.  The  biog- 
raphies of  twelve  other  English  medical  wor- 
thies were  contributed  by  Dr.  Bisset  Hawkins, 
Dr.  Parry,  Dr.  Southey,  Dr.  Munk,  and  Mr. 
Clarke.  The  book  is  a  small  volume  contain- 
ing portraits  of  some  of  the  more  famous 
subjects.  It  was  dedicated  to  Sir  Henry 
Halford.  Although  not  so  happy  in  its  con- 
ception and  execution  as  the  Gold-Headed 
Cane,  this  little  work  is  a  most  valuable  con- 
tribution to  English  medical  literature.  The 
lives  are  well  written,  accurate,  and  contain 
information  much  of  which  is  derived  from 
sources  inaccessible  to  the  general  reader. 

In  1837,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three,  Dr.  Mac- 


xvi  PREFACE. 

michael  suffered  a  stroke  of  paralysis  which 
obliged  him  to  retire  from  professional  life  and 
he  died  two  years  later  at  his  residence  in 
Maida  Vale.  Sir  Thomas  Watson,  the  fa- 
mous London  Physician,  was  one  of  Dr.  Mac- 
michael's  friends  who  knew  him  many  years. 
In  1878  Sir  Thomas  Watson  wrote  of  him  as 
follows,  to  Munk:1  "Dr.  Macmichael  was 
fond  of  society,  and  qualified  alike  to  enjoy  and 
embellish  it.  Having  travelled  long  and  seen 
many  cities  and  the  manners  of  many  men,  he 
possessed  a  large  stock  of  general  information, 
was  fertile  in  various  and  amusing  anecdotes, 
and  was  wont  to  mix,  with  certain  natural  ease 
and  grace,  in  lively  and  interesting  discourse, 
without  making  his  own  share  in  it  unduly 
prominent.  His  cheerfulness  and  equanimity 
of  temper,  and  kindness  of  heart,  endeared  him 
to  a  large  circle  of  devoted  friends,  of  whom 
a  very  few  only,  at  the  time  of  this  writing, 
survive  to  commemorate  his  engaging  qualities 
and  to  regret  his  loss." 

Under  Sir  Henry  Halford's  presidency  the 
College    of    Physicians    underwent    a    great 

1  Roll  call  of  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians,  article 
on  Macmichael. 


PREFACE.  xvii 

awakening.  It  acquired,  largely  through  his 
individual  efforts,  a  splendid  new  home  and 
he  also  originated  the  evening  meetings  which 
were  henceforth  held  in  the  Hall.  These  were 
held  once  a  month  during  the  first  six  months 
of  the  year,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening. 
Tea  and  coffee  were  provided.  The  meetings 
were  attended  not  only  by  physicians,  but  by 
many  persons  of  prominence  in  the  various 
walks  of  life.  The  papers  presented  at  them 
were,  therefore,  as  a  general  rule,  adapted  to 
a  mixed  audience.  They  were  not  read  by 
their  authors,  but  by  the  Registrar  of  the  Col- 
lege, except  in  the  instance  of  the  President, 
who  was  permitted  to  read  such  communica- 
tions as  he  might  wish  to  make  himself.  A 
great  part  of  Sir  Henry  Halford's  success  in 
these  innovations  was  due  to  the  active  part 
taken  by  Macmichael  in  seconding  his  efforts 
in  this  as  in  every  other  way  by  which  he  could 
show  his  gratitude  and  aid  his  friend  and  bene- 
factor. In  nothing  could  he  have  succeeded 
better  in  awakening  renewed  interest  in  the 
venerable  College  than  by  directing  attention 
to  its  past  history  and  to  the  achievements  of 
the  illustrious  men  who  had  been  connected 


xviii  PREFACE. 

with  it.  It  was  probably  this  desire  which  led 
Macmichael  to  utilize  his  erudite  knowledge 
of  the  subject  in  the  compilation  of  the  fasci- 
nating book  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of 
"  The  Gold-Headed  Cane." 

The  new  College  was  opened  on  the  25th  of 
June,  1825.  According  to  its  veracious  auto- 
biography, on  the  previous  day  the  Cane  was 
deposited  in  a  corner  closet  of  the  new  build- 
ing, "  with  the  observation  that  I  was  no 
longer  to  be  carried  about."  The  Gold- 
Headed  Cane  now  occupies  a  glass  case  in  the 
Library  of  the  College,  where  it  may  have  the 
consolation  of  feeling  that  it  is  gazed  on  by 
many  visitors  who  have  read  its  history  and 
been  stimulated  by  it  to  wish  a  close  view  of 
the  author. 

The  Cane  was  carried  successively  by  Rad- 
clifTe,  Mead,  Askew,  Pit  cairn  and  Baillie,  and 
bears  their  various  arms  engraved  upon  its 
head.  It  was  presented  to  Sir  Henry  Hal- 
ford  by  Dr.  Baillie's  widow  and  he  in  turn 
placed  it  in  the  College. 

Dr.  Macmichael's  happy  inspiration  to  write 
its  autobiography  was  carried  into  erf  ect  at  the 
time  when  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Fellows  at 


PREFACE.  xix 

the  acquisition  of  their  splendid  new  hall  was 
at  its  height.  The  first  edition  was  published 
in  1827,  and  a  second  edition  in  the  succeeding 
year.  A  third  edition,  edited  by  Dr.  William 
Munk,  was  published  in  1884,  forty-five  years 
after  Macmichael's  death. 

The  cane  in  ancient  days  was  regarded  as  an 
essential  part  of  the  equipment  of  every  physi- 
cian. Dr.  Munk,  in  the  third  edition  of  the 
Gold-Headed  Cane,  adverts  to  this  fact  and 
also  explains  the  origin  of  the  custom.  The 
cane  usually  carried  by  physicians  had  for  its 
head  a  knob  of  gold,  silver  or  ivory,  which  was 
hollow,  and  perforated  so  that  it  served  to  con- 
tain aromatic  preparations  which  could  be  in- 
haled as  a  preventive  of  contagion.  The 
favorite  preparation  for  this  purpose  was  the 
"  vinegar  of  the  four  thieves,"  or  Marseilles 
Vinegar,  an  aromatic  vinegar  which,  according 
to  the  confession  of  four  thieves  (who  had, 
during  a  plague  at  Marseilles  plundered  the 
dead  bodies)  had  prevented  them  from  con- 
tracting* the  disease  while  pursuing  their  ne- 
farious occupation. 

The  Gold-Headed  Cane  was  adorned  by  a 
cross  bar  for  a  top  instead  of  a  knob,  a  fact 


xx  PREFACE. 

which  Munk  explains  by  the  statement  that 
Radcliffe,  its  first  owner,  was  a  rule  unto  him- 
self, and  very  possibly  preferred  a  handle  of 
that  kind  for  his  cane  as  a  distinction  from  that 
used  by  the  majority  of  physicians. 

With  its  passage  from  the  possession  of  Dr. 
Pitcairn  into  that  of  Dr.  Baillie,  the  Cane  pa- 
thetically states:  "I  ceased  to  be  considered 
any  longer  as  a  necessary  appendage  of  the 
profession,  and  consequently  the  opportunities 
I  enjoyed  of  seeing  the  world,  or  even  of 
knowing  much  about  the  state  of  physic,  were 
very  greatly  abridged,  and  of  but  rare  occur- 
rence." 

With  the  account  of  Baillie  and  the  state  of 
physic  in  his  time  the  Cane  ceased  its  autobiog- 
raphy and  regarded  its  honorable  career  as 
closed.  Dr.  Munk,  in  the  third  edition,  pub- 
lished in  1884,  wrote  a  continuation  of  the  nar- 
rative in  very  good  imitation  of  Macmichael's 
style,  which  brought  the  story  down  to  the  year 
1871. 

The  publication  of  a  new  edition  of  a  medi- 
cal and  literary  classic  such  as  the  Gold- 
Headed  Cane  requires  no  apologia.  The 
three  previous  editions  are  now  all  of  them 


PREFACE.  xxi 

so  difficult  to  obtain,  the  book  so  eagerly- 
sought  for,  and  its  perusal  productive  of  so 
much  profit  and  pleasure,  that  the  demand  is 
obvious. 

The  medical  profession  in  Great  Britain  and 
America  owe  the  present  undertaking  entirely 
to  the  unselfish  zeal  of  the  Publisher,  whose 
love  and  admiration  for  the  merits  of  the  Cane 
prompted  him  to  undertake  a  venture  from 
which  in  a  commercial  point  of  view  no  profit 
can  be  expected. 

The  present  edition  follows  the  text  and 
illustrations  contained  in  the  second  edition, 
which  was  chosen  for  reprinting  because  it 
was  revised,  added  to  and  published  by  the 
author  himself.  The  first  edition  contained 
179  pages.  To  the  second  edition  Dr.  Mac- 
michael  added  88  pages  of  text,  which  con- 
tain much  of  the  very  best  of  his  work.  The 
third  edition  contained  no  illustrations,  and  al- 
though the  continuation  of  the  narrative  is 
most  interesting,  it  is  not  Macmichael's  and 
therefore  not  the  Cane's. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  with  the  recent  great 
stimulation  of  interest  in  medical  history  which 
the  profession  in  this  country  has  shown  this 


xxii  PREFACE. 

little  volume  will  achieve  the  same  popularity 
as  its  predecessors  and  add  more  lustre  to  the 
glory  of  the  Cane. 

Francis  R.  Packard. 

Philadelphia, 
March,  1915. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  THE  WRITINGS  OF 
WILLIAM  MACMICHAEL. 

"  A  Journey  from  Moscow  to  Constantinople  in  the  year 
1817-18."     4to,  London,  1819. 

"A  New  View  of  the  Infection  of  Scarlet  Fever;  illus- 
trated by  Remarks  on  Other  Contagious  Disorders," 
8vo,  vi,  100  pp.  London,  T.  and  G.  Underwood, 
1822. 

"  A  Brief  Sketch  of  the  Progress  of  Opinion  upon  the 
Subject  of  Contagion,  with  Some  Remarks  on  Quar- 
antine."    8vo,  London,  1825. 

"  The  Gold-Headed  Cane,"  179  pp.,  8vo,  London,  J. 
Murray,  1827. 

"  The  Gold-Headed  Cane,"  267  pp.,  8vo,  London,  J. 
Murray,  1828. 

"  Is  the  Cholera  Spasmodica  of  India  a  Contagious  Dis- 
ease ?  "  The  question  considered  in  a  letter  to  Sir 
Henry  Halford,  Bart.,  M.D.  34  pp.,  8vo,  London,  J. 
Murray,  1831.  A  French  translation  of  this  pam- 
phlet was  published  in  Paris  in  1831. 

"  Some  Remarks  on  Dropsy;  with  a  Narrative  of  the 
Last  Illness  of  H.  R.  H.  the  Duke  of  York  " ;  read  at 


xxiv  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

the  Royal  College  of  Physicians,  May  25,  1835.    18  pp., 
8vo,  London,  J.  Murray,  1835. 

"The   Gold-Headed   Cane,"   edited  by  William  Munk, 
XVI,  266  pp.,  8vo,  London,  Longmans,  1884. 

In  this  edition  the  editor  continues  the  narrative  of 
the  Gold-Headed  Cane  down  to  the  year  1876,  in  imi- 
tation of  Macmichael's  style.  It  lacks  the  quaint  il- 
lustrations which  ornamented  the  first  two  editions 
and  added  so  much  to  their  charm. 


THE 

GOLD-HEADED  CANE. 


SECOND  EDITION. 


LONDON: 
JOHN  MURRAY,  ALBEMARLE-STREET. 


MDCCCXXVIIT. 


TO 

THE  HONOURABLE  LADY  HALFORD, 
THIS    VOLUME 

IS    DEDICATED 
WITH 

SENTIMENTS    OF    THE    GREATEST    RESPECT    AND    ESTEEM^ 

BY 
HEE    LADYSHIP'S 

MOST   FAITHFUL   SERVANT, 

THE  EDITOR. 


NOTICE  BY  THE  EDITOR. 

A  short  time  before  the  opening  of  the  New 
College  of  Physicians,  Mrs.  Baillie  presented 
to  that  learned  body  a  Gold-Headed  Cane, 
which  had  been  successively  carried  by  Drs. 
Radcliffe,  Mead,  Askew,  Pitcairn,  and  her 
own  lamented  husband. 

The  arms  of  these  celebrated  Physicians  are 
engraved  on  the  head  of  the  Cane,  and  they 
form  the  Vignettes  of  the  five  Chapters  into 
which  this  little  Volume  is  divided. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 
CHAP.    I.  RADCLIFFE 1 

CHAP.    II.  MEAD      .        .        .        .        .        .        .51 

CHAP.    III.  ASKEW 149 

CHAP.    IV.  PITCAIRN 174 

CHAP.    Y.  BAILLIE 225 


RADCLIFFE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

When  I  was  deposited  in  a  corner  closet 
of  the  Library,  on  the  24th  of  June,  1825,  the 
day  before  the  opening  of  the  New  College 
of  Physicians,  with  the  observation  that  I  was 
no  longer  to  be  carried  about,  but  to  be  kept 
amongst  the  reliques  of  that  learned  body,  it 
was  impossible  to  avoid  secretly  lamenting  the 
obscurity  which  was  henceforth  to  be  my  lot. 
Formerly  the  entree  of  palaces  had  been  open 
to  me;  I  had  been  freely  admitted  into  the 


2  RADCLIFFE. 

houses  of  the  great  and  the  rich;  but  now  I 
was  doomed  to  darkness,  and  condemned  to 
occupy  the  corner  of  a  library — spacious  and 
splendid,  it  must  be  allowed,  but  where  I  was 
surrounded  by  nothing  but  the  musty  manu- 
scripts of  defunct  doctors.  The  gloom,  how- 
ever, of  my  present  abode  was  enlivened  on 
the  following  day  by  my  overhearing  the  ele- 
gant oration  of  the  President  of  the  College; 
and  an  occasional  glance  I  had  of  scarlet 
dresses  recalled  the  decorum  and  propriety  of 
the  days  of  yore,  when,  on  all  solemn  occasions 
of  public  meeting,  the  Fellows  appeared  hab- 
ited in  the  doctors'  robes  of  their  respective 
universities.  I  had  passed  through  so  many 
erudite  hands,  and  had  been  present  at  so  many 
grave  consultations,  that  the  language  of  the 
oration  was  familiar  to  me,  and  I  could  easily 
collect,  from  certain  allusions  in  the  speech, 
that  princes  of  the  blood,  the  legislators  of  the 
land,  the  nobles  and  learned  of  England, 
formed  a  considerable  portion  of  the  audience. 
The  topics  upon  which  the  accomplished  orator 
touched  were  various  and  interesting;  but  I 
listened  with  increased  attention  when  I  heard 
him  speak  of  the  donation  of  the  Radcliffe 


RADCLIFFE.  3 

Trustees  *,  and  every  fibre  thrilled  within  me 
at  the  consciousness  of  the  heartfelt  delight 
with  which  my  first  kind  and  generous  master 
would  have  grasped  me,  could  he  have  fore- 
seen the  liberal  spirit  of  the  future  guardians 
of  his  princely  fortune. 

The  low  murmur  of  applause  which  accom- 
panied the  commemoration  of  the  integrity 
and  honest  simplicity  of  character  of  the  last 
physician,  whose  hand  I  had  graced,  checked 
as  it  was  by  the  reflection,  that  he  was  now, 
alas!  no  more,  marked  alike  the  eloquence  of 
the  orator,  and  the  good  taste  and  feeling  of 
his  audience.  But  the  speech  was  too  soon 
finished,  and  the  guests  slowly  retired  from 
the  Library.  I  was  once  more  left  to  silence 
and  solitude;  never,  perhaps,  to  see  the  light 
of  day,  unless  when  my  closet  was  occasionally 
unlocked,  that  I  might  be  shown  as  a  curiosity 
to  some  idle  and  casual  visitor.  I  had,  how- 
ever, been  closely  connected  with  medicine  for 
a  century  and  a  half;  and  might  consequently, 
without  vanity,  look  upon  myself  as  the  de- 
positary of  many  important  secrets,  in  which 

*  £2000  towards  the  building  of  the  New  College  of 
Physicians. 


4  RADCLIFFE. 

the  dignity  of  the  profession  was  nearly  con- 
cerned. I  resolved,  therefore,  to  employ  my 
leisure  in  recording  the  most  striking  scenes 
I  had  witnessed.  The  Doctors  had  indeed  re- 
sumed their  robes;  but  it  was  too  much  to 
expect  that  they  would  again  carry  the  cane, 
and  adopt  the  use  of  the  full-bottomed  wig; 
though  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  that  the 
honour  of  physic,  and  perhaps  the  welfare  of 
mankind,  would  be  greatly  promoted  by  so 
praiseworthy  a  practice. 

These  Memoirs  are  the  fruit  of  my  retire- 
ment; and  should  the  reader  feel  any  disposi- 
tion to  authenticate  my  narrative  by  reference 
to  the  records  of  the  different  periods  it  em- 
braces, I  feel  no  fear  for  the  result  of  his  in- 
vestigation: since  if  the  written  documents  be 
correct,  they  must  agree  with  my  story. 

Of  my  early  state  and  separate  condition 
I  have  no  recollection  whatever;  and  it  may 
reasonably  enough  be  supposed,  that  it  was 
not  till  after  the  acquisition  of  my  head  that 
I  became  conscious  of  existence,  and  capable 
of  observation.  But  I  shall  never  forget  the 
first  consultation  at  which  I  was  present; 
where  every  thing  being  strange  to  me,  I  was 


RADCLIFFE.  5 

attentive  to  the  most  minute  circumstances, 
which  then  came  recommended  to  my  notice 
as  well  by  the  importance  and  dignity  of  the 
patient,  as  by  the  novelty  of  the  scene.  As 
in  these  conferences  there  is  usually  much  mat- 
ter of  routine,  I  became  afterwards  more  care- 
less; and  as  none  of  the  responsibility  of  the 
advice  given  rested  with  me,  I  allowed  my 
thoughts  to  wander. 

It  was  in  the  autumn  of  1689.  My  master, 
Dr.  Radcliffe,  had  just  then  returned  from  a 
distant  journey  in  the  country,  and  was  much 
fatigued,  when  an  urgent  message  reached 
him  at  his  house  in  Bow-street,  Covent  Gar- 
den. Snatching  me  up,  he  hurried  into  his 
carriage,  and  set  off  with  all  speed- for  Ken- 
sington House.  This  irregular  edifice,  which 
had  recently  been  purchased  by  the  crown  of 
the  second  Earl  of  Nottingham,  had  under- 
gone several  alterations,  and  received  some 
additions  hastily  put  together  for  the  imme- 
diate accommodation  of  the  court.  The  edi- 
fice itself  was  not  extensive,  having  rather  the 
appearance  of  the  neat  villa  of  a  nobleman 
than  that  of  a  royal  mansion;  and  the  gar- 
dens were  upon  a  small  scale,  but  kept  in  the 


6  RADCLIFFE. 

neatest  possible  order.  From  the  town  of 
Kensington,  the  approach  was  by  a  double 
row  of  large  elm  trees,  leading  to  the  north 
entrance  of  the  house,  through  an  unenclosed 
field,  which  was  at  that  time  disfigured  by  a 
gravel-pit.  Here,  however,  afterwards,  the 
skill  of  the  famous  gardeners  of  the  day, 
London  and  Wise,  was  employed;  and  the 
cut  yew  and  variegated  holly  hedges  were 
taught  to  imitate  the  lines,  angles,  bastions, 
scarps,  and  counterscarps,  of  a  regular  forti- 
fication. This  curious  upper  garden,  known 
by  the  name  of  the  Siege  of  Troy,  was  long 
the  admiration  of  every  lover  of  that  kind  of 
trim  horticultural  embellishment  *. 

We  were  ushered  through  a  suite  of  several 
rooms,  plainly  but  handsomely  furnished,  by 
Simon  de  Brienne;  and  it  seemed  to  me  that 
the  Doctor  assumed  a  more  lofty  air,  and 
walked  with  a  firmer  step,  and  I  was  con- 
scious of  a  gentle  pressure  of  his  hand,  as  he 
stopped  and  gazed  for  a  moment  on  the  like- 
ness of  the  Founder  of  the  College  of  Physi- 

*  All  this  has  now  disappeared ;  the  ground  being  en- 
closed about  forty  years  ago,  and  converted  into  pasture 
land. 


RADCLIFFE.  7 

cians,  Dr.  Linacre,  painted  by  Holbein,  which 
was  hanging  in  one  of  the  rooms,  amongst 
the  royal  portraits  of  the  Henrys,  and  several 
other  of  the  Kings  and  Queens  of  England 
and  Scotland. 

On  entering  the  sick  chamber,  which  was 
a  small  cabinet  in  the  south-east  angle  of  the 
building,  called  the  Writing  Closet,  a  person 
of  a  grave  and  solemn  aspect,  apparently  about 
forty  years  of  age,  of  a  thin  and  weak  body, 
brown  hair,  and  of  middle  stature,  was  seen 
sitting  in  an  arm-chair,  and  breathing  with 
great  difficulty.  The  naturally  serious  char- 
acter of  the  King  (for  it  was  His  Majesty 
William  the  Third)  was  rendered  more  melan- 
choly by  the  distressing  symptoms  of  an 
asthma,  the  consequence  of  the  dregs  of  the 
small-pox,  that  had  fallen  on  his  lungs.  In 
the  absence  of  the  fit,  and  at  other  times,  his 
sparkling  eyes,  large  and  elevated  forehead, 
and  aquiline  nose,  gave  a  dignity  to  his  coun- 
tenance, which,  though  usually  grave  and 
phlegmatic,  was  said  in  the  day  of  battle  to 
be  susceptible  of  the  most  animated  expres- 
sion.    "  Doctor,"  said  the  King,  "  Bentinck  * 

*  Earl  of  Portland. 


8  RADCLIFFE. 

and  Zulestein  *  have  been  urgent  with  me 
that  I  should  again  send  for  you;  and  though 
I  have  great  confidence  in  my  two  body-physi- 
cians here,  yet  I  have  heard  so  much  of  your 
great  skill,  that  I  desire  you  will  confer  with 
Bidloo  and  Laurence,  whether  some  other  plan 
might  not  be  adopted.  They  have  plied  me  so 
much  with  aperitives  to  open  my  stomach,  that 
I  am  greatly  reduced ;  my  condition  is,  I  think, 
hazardous,  unless  you  try  other  measures." 

The  King  seldom  spoke  so  long  at  a  time, 
his  conversation  being  usually  remarkably  dry 
and  repulsive;  and  here  His  Majesty's  speech 
was  interrupted  by  a  deep  cough,  and  he  sunk 
back  in  his  chair  exhausted.  "  May  it  please 
Your  Majesty,"  said  Dr.  RadclifTe,  "  I  must  be, 
plain  with  you,  Sir :  your  case  is  one  of  danger, 
no  doubt,  but  if  you  will  adhere  to  my  pre- 
scriptions, I  will  engage  to  do  you  good.  The 
rheum  is  dripping  on  your  lungs,  and  will  be 
of  fatal  consequence  to  you,  unless  it  be  other- 
wise diverted." — Upon  this  Dr.  Bidloo,  who, 
though  expert  in  the  knowledge  of  some 
branches  of  physic,  was  not  always  happy  or 
quick  in  his  conjectures,  was  about  to  reply. 

*  Earl  of  Rockford. 


RADCLIFFE.  9 

There  was  something  like  an  insinuation  of 
mala  praxis  in  the  last  observation;  and 
being  somewhat  of  an  irascible  temper,  the 
Dutchman,  anxious  perhaps  to  return  to  his 
duties  of  professor  of  anatomy  and  surgery  at 
Leyden,  was  indifferent  about  giving  offence 
to  his  royal  master.  But  the  King,  in  a  calm 
and  sullen  manner,  imposed  silence,  and  inti- 
mated to  the  physicians  to  withdraw  and  con- 
sult upon  the  treatment  of  his  malady.  The 
consultation  was  short,  and  the  result  was, 
that  some  medicines  should  be  tried  that 
might  have  the  effect  of  promoting  the  flow 
of  saliva.  This  treatment  fully  succeeded,  for 
the  King  was  so  completely  restored,  that  a 
few  months  afterwards  he  fought  the  battle 
of  the  Boyne. 

Before  we  left  the  palace,  my  master  waited 
upon  Her  Majesty  the  Queen;  and  as  it  was 
well  known,  that  Mary  grew  weary  of  any 
body  who  would  not  talk  a  great  deal  (while 
her  sister  the  Princess  Anne  of  Denmark  was 
so  silent  that  she  rarely  spoke  more  than  was 
necessary  to  answer  a  question) ,  our  audience 
was  not  soon  over.  It  was  said  by  the  ene- 
mies of  the  Queen,  that  whatever  good  quali- 


10  RADCLIFFE. 

ties  she  had  to  make  her  popular,  it  was 
but  too  evident,  by  many  instances,  that  she 
wanted  bowels;  but  on  the  present  occasion 
the  accusation  was  quite  untrue,  for  on  the 
subject  of  the  King's  indisposition,  nothing 
could  exceed  her  anxiety,  and  it  was  impossible 
for  the  physician  to  answer  Her  Majesty's  in- 
numerable inquiries.  What  was  the  nature 
of  his  complaint?  the  probable  issue?  how  long 
a  time  would  be  required  to  complete  his  re- 
covery, so  that,  in  the  present  critical  state 
of  affairs,  His  Majesty  might  be  enabled  to 
return  to  the  management  of  public  business, 
and  take  the  field  against  his  enemies?  In 
fact,  the  Queen  asked  questions  which  I  soon 
found,  by  a  very  little  experience,  that  the  con- 
jectural nature  of  the  art  of  medicine  would 
not  always  allow  to  be  answered  with  preci- 
sion. The  person  of  the  Queen  was  majestic, 
and  calculated  to  inspire  respect ;  and  her  con- 
versation (when  not  under  the  influence  of 
such  feelings  as  now  agitated  her)  indicated 
a  fine  and  cultivated  understanding,  for  she 
had  read  much  in  history  and  divinity.  Her 
Majesty's  studies  were,  however,  even  now 
beginning  to  be  interrupted  by  a  course  of 


RADCLIFFE.  11 

humours  that  was  forming  in  her  eyes,  and 
which  compelled  her  to  employ  her  time  in 
another  manner.  But  she  was  ever  active; 
and  so  industrious,  that  she  wrought  many 
hours  a  day  herself,  with  her  ladies  and  maids 
of  honour  working  about  her,  while  one  read 
to  them  all. 

Our  interview  with  the  Queen  took  place 
in  a  small  apartment,  afterwards  known  by 
the  name  of  the  Patch-work  Closet,  the  sides 
of  which  were  hung  with  tapesty,  the  work 
of  her  own  hands;  as  were  also  the  coverings 
of  the  chairs  with  which  the  room  was  fur- 
nished. As  I  shall  not  have  occasion  again  to 
speak  of  the  Queen,  it  may  here  be  mentioned 
that,  five  years  afterwards,  this  incomparable 
Princess  fell  a  victim  to  the  small-pox;  and 
though  my  master  was  blamed  by  his  enemies, 
as  having  caused  her  death,  either  by  his 
negligence  or  unskilfulness,  yet  he  himself 
always  maintained  that  he  was  called  too  late, 
and  that  no  remedies  that  could  then  be  tried 
had  the  least  chance  of  doing  her  good.  On 
this  delicate  point,  any  evidence  which  I  could 
advance  would  be  received  with  suspicion; 
and  it  remains  only  to  observe,  that  on  this 


12  RADCLIFFE. 

melancholy  occasion  King  William  exhibited 
feelings  which  no  one  had  previously  given 
him  credit  for.  A  great  politician  and  soldier, 
who  had  been  immersed  in  dangers  and  calami- 
ties from  his  infancy,  he  was  possessed  of 
boundless  ambition,  which  he  concealed  under 
a  cold  exterior,  never  allowing  his  speech  to 
betray  the  wishes  of  his  heart.  But  during 
the  last  sickness  of  the  Queen,  His  Majesty 
was  in  an  agony  that  amazed  every  one  about 
his  person,  fainting  often,  and  breaking  out 
into  most  violent  lamentations.  When  he 
heard  of  her  death,  he  was  much  affected, 
burst  into  tears,  and  for  some  weeks  after  was 
not  capable  of  minding  business  or  of  seeing 
company. 

Whilst  the  nation  was  grieving  for  the  loss 
of  the  Queen,  an  event  took  place  in  our 
domestic  establishment,  which  considerably 
ruffled  my  master's  temper,  and  interrupted, 
for  a  short  space,  the  usual  gaiety  of  his  life. 
Though  it  could  not  be  said  that  our  house 
was  ever  a  melancholy  one  (in  truth,  we  were 
little  at  home,  the  Doctor  living  much  in  so- 
ciety, whither  I  accompanied  him  to  taverns 
and  clubs,  where  the  choicest  spirits  were  wont 


RADCLIFFE.  13 

to  assemble),  yet  still  the  home  of  a  bachelor 
is  occasionally  but  a  dull  and  stupid  residence. 
The  friends  of  Radcliffe  were  therefore  always 
urging  him  to  look  out  for  a  wife,  and  he  at 
length  listened  to  their  advice.  One  who  was 
so  general  a  favourite  in  society,  and,  besides, 
who  was  known  to  be  so  well  to  pass  in  the 
world  (for  at  that  time  he  was  worth,  at  the 
least,  £30,000,  and  daily  adding  to  his  wealth) , 
had  no  great  difficulty  in  meeting  with  an  ob- 
ject upon  whom  to  place  his  affections.  A 
young  lady,  the  daughter  of  a  wealthy  citizen, 
whose  name  I  forbear  to  mention,  in  considera- 
tion of  the  awkward  disclosure  which  ulti- 
mately took  place,  soon  attracted  his  attention. 
She  was  an  only  child,  not  more  than  twenty- 
four  years  of  age,  and  with  a  tolerable  share 
of  personal  charms:  the  parents  readily  as- 
sented to  the  proposal,  and  the  terms  of  the 
marriage  were  soon  agreed  upon ;  the  lady  was 
to  have  £15,000  down,  and  the  residue  of  the 
citizen's  estate  at  his  decease.  The  visits  of 
my  master  into  the  city  were  numerous,  but  he 
took  me  with  him  once  or  twice  only.  To  tell 
the  truth,  I  felt  myself,  on  these  occasions, 
quite  misplaced ;  not  that  I  was  at  all  unaccus- 


14  RADCLIFFE. 

tomed  to  female  society — quite  the  reverse; 
but  then  the  conversations,  with  which  I  was 
familiar,  were  altogether  so  different.  Here 
were  none  of  the  ordinary  questions  about 
health,  the  last  night's  repose,  the  situation  of 
pain,  the  long  detail  of  complaints,  the  va- 
pours, the  low  muttering  with  the  waiting- 
woman  aside;  and  at  last,  when  the  hurry  and 
agitation  occasioned  by  the  doctor's  arrival  had 
subsided,  the  sagacious  feeling  of  the  pulse. 
To  all  this  I  was  daily  habituated;  but,  in  the 
new  scene  to  which  I  was  now  introduced,  I 
was  conscious  of  making  an  awkward  appear- 
ance, and  was  glad  to  be  left  at  home.  Mat- 
ters, however,  seemed  to  proceed  prosperously, 
and  every  thing  promised  a  consummation  of 
my  master's  happiness ;  when,  one  evening,  he 
returned  late  to  his  home,  obviously  much  dis- 
composed. He  was  no  sooner  alone  in  his 
chamber,  than  he  gave  vent  to  his  chagrin. 
"Good  God!"  said  he,  as  he  paced  up  and 
down  the  room,  "what  a  discovery!  Well! 
hanging  and  marrying  certainly  go  by  des- 
tiny; and  if  I  had  been  guilty  of  the  last,  I 
should  scarcely  have  escaped  the  first.  What 
would  my  acquaintance  have  said?     And  my 


RADCLIFFE.  15 

neighbour,  Sir  Godfrey,  how  would  he  have 
triumphed!  He  was  sarcastic  enough  the 
other  day  about  that  confounded  garden- 
door  * — here  there  would  have  been  no  bounds 

*  The  story,  to  which  allusion  seems  here  to  be  made, 
is  thus  related  in  the  life  of  Radcliffe: 

"  It  will  not  be  much  out  of  the  way,  to  insert  a  divert- 
ing passage  between  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller,  the  King's 
chief  painter,  and  the  doctor,  since  it  happened  near  this 
time;  and  though  not  altogether  so  advantageous  to  the 
doctor's  memory  as  the  generality  of  his  sarcastical  re- 
plies, yet  will  be  of  use  to  bring  in  a  very  happy  turn 
of  wit  from  him  that  speaks  in  rejoindre  to  it.  The 
doctor's  dwelling-house,  as  has  been  said  before,  was  in 
Bow-street,  Covent  Garden,  whereunto  belonged  a  very 
convenient  garden,  that  was  contiguous  to  another,  on  the 
back  of  it,  appertaining  to  Sir  Godfrey,  which  was  ex- 
tremely curious  and  inviting,  from  the  many  exotic  plants, 
and  the  variety  of  flowers  and  greens,  which  it  abounded 
with.  Now,  as  one  wall  divided  both  inclosures,  and  the 
doctor  had  some  reason,  from  his  intimacy  with  the 
knight,  to  think  he  would  not  give  a  denial  to  any  reason- 
able request,  so  he  took  the  freedom  when  he  was  one 
day  in  company  with  the  latter,  after  extolling  his  fine 
parterres  and  choice  collection  of  herbs,  flowers,  &c.  to 
desire  the  liberty  of  having  a  door  made,  for  a  free  inter- 
course with  both  gardens,  but  in  such  a  manner  as  should 
not  be  inconvenient  to  either  family. 

"  Sir  Godfrey,  who  was  and  is  a  gentleman  of  extraor- 


16  RADCLIFFE. 

to  his  mirth;  I  should  have  been  the  laughing- 
stock of  all  who  know  me. 

"  Mrs.  Mary  is  a  very  deserving  gentle- 

dinary  courtesy  and  humanity,  very  readily  gave  his  con- 
sent ;  but  the  doctor's  servants,  instead  of  being  strict  ob- 
servers of  the  terms  of  agreement,  made  such  a  havock 
amongst  his  hortulanary  curiosities,  that  Sir  Godfrey  was 
out  of  all  patience,  and  found  himself  obliged,  in  a  very 
becoming  manner,  to  advertise  their  master  of  it,  with 
his  desires  to  him,  to  admonish  them  for  the  forbearance 
of  such  insolencies;  yet  notwithstanding  this  complaint, 
the  grievance  continued  unredressed;  so  that  the  person 
aggrieved  found  himself  under  the  necessity  of  letting 
him  that  ought  to  make  things  easy  know,  by  one  of  his 
servants,  that  he  should  be  obliged  to  brick  up  the  door, 
in  case  of  his  complaints  proving  ineffectual.  To  this  the 
doctor,  who  was  very  often  in  a  cholerick  temper,  and 
from  the  success  of  his  practice  imagined  every  one  under 
an  obligation  of  bearing  with  him,  returned  answer, '  That 
Sir  Godfrey  might  do  even  what  he  pleased  with  the 
door,  so  that  he  did  not  paint  it : '  alluding  to  his  employ- 
ment, in  which  none  was  a  more  exquisite  master.  Here- 
upon a  footman,  after  some  hesitation  in  the  delivery  of 
his  message,  and  several  commands  from  his  master,  to 
give  it  him  word  for  word,  told  him  as  above.  '  Did  my 
very  good  friend,  Dr.  Radcliffe,  say  so?  '  cried  Sir  God- 
frey :  '  go  you  back  to  him,  and,  after  presenting  my 
service  to  him,  tell  him  that  I  can  take  anything  from 
him  but  physic'  " — (The  Editor.) 


RADCLIFFE.  17 

woman,  no  doubt;  but  her  father  must  par- 
don me,  if  I  think  her  by  no  means  fit  to  be 
my  wife,  since  she  is  or  ought  to  be  another 
man's  already!  "  These  and  other  similar  ex- 
pressions escaped  him,  as  he  continued  to  walk 
to  and  fro,  apparently  in  the  highest  degree 
of  excitement.  At  length  he  sat  down  to  his 
table  and  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  S — d,  declin- 
ing the  honour  of  becoming  his  son-in-law,  and 
stating  his  reasons  in  full  for  so  sudden  a 
change  of  resolution.  The  effects  of  this  dis- 
appointment were  visible  for  some  time,  but 
he  ultimately  recovered  his  spirits,  returned  to 
his  former  aversion  to  matrimony,  and  resumed 
his  usual  habits  of  conviviality  and  indepen- 
dence. 

His  practice  increased,  and  there  were  few 
families  of  any  note  that  had  not  some  time 
or  other  recourse  to  his  skill  and  advice.  I 
began  now  to  consider  how  his  superiority  over 
his  rivals  was  to  be  explained,  whence  arose 
the  great  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  his 
patients;  to  what,  in  fine,  his  eminent  suc- 
cess was  to  be  attributed.  It  was  clear,  his 
erudition  had  nothing  to  do  with  it;  but 
though  there  was  something  rude  in  the  man- 


18  RADCLIFFE. 

ner  in  which  he  frequently  disparaged  the 
practice  of  others,  yet  it  could  not  be  denied 
that  his  general  good  sense  and  practical 
knowledge  of  the  world  distinguished  him  from 
all  his  competitors.  He  was  remarkable  for 
his  apt  and  witty  replies,  and  always  ready  in 
suggesting  expedients ;  though,  to  be  sure,  some 
of  them  were  homely  enough,  and  occasion- 
ally sufficiently  ludicrous,  and  such  as  I  never 
witnessed  with  the  grave  and  more  polished 
doctors  into  whose  hands  I  afterwards  passed. 
He  was  once  sent  for  into  the  country,  to  visit 
a  gentleman  ill  of  a  quinsey.  Finding  that 
no  external  nor  internal  application  would  be 
of  service,  he  desired  the  lady  of  the  house  to 
order  a  hasty-pudding  to  be  made:  when  it 
was  done,  his  own  servants  were  to  bring  it  up, 
and  while  the  pudding  was  preparing,  he  gave 
them  his  private  instructions.  In  a  short  time 
it  was  set  on  the  table,  in  full  view  of  the 
patient.  "  Come,  Jack  and  Dick,"  said  Rad- 
cliffe,  "eat  as  quickly  as  possible;  you  have 
had  no  breakfast  this  morning."  Both  began 
with  their  spoons,  but  on  Jack's  dipping  once 
only  for  Dick's  twice,  a  quarrel  arose.  Spoon- 
fuls of  hot  pudding  were  discharged  on  both 


RADCLIFFE.  19 

sides,  and  at  last,  handfuls  were  pelted  at  each 
other.  The  patient  was  seized  with  a  hearty 
fit  of  laughter,  the  quinsey  burst  and  dis- 
charged its  contents,  and  my  master  soon 
completed  the  cure. 

So  much  for  his  humour;  but  it  was  the 
confident  tone  in  which  he  frequently  pre- 
dicted the  issue  of  diseases,  a  quality  which 
he  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree,  and  often 
exercised  with  great  success,  that  chiefly  gave 
a  decided  advantage  to  Radcliffe  over  his 
rivals  in  practice.  I  will  relate  one  of  these 
occasions,  which  was  very  striking.  Being 
sent  for  once,  to  attend  the  Duke  of  Beaufort 
at  Badminton,  who  was  very  ill,  the  Doctor, 
instead  of  complying  with  the  request,  told 
the  gentleman  who  brought  the  message, 
"  There  was  no  manner  of  necessity  for  his 
presence,  since  the  Duke  his  master  died  such 
an  hour  the  day  before:  "  which  the  messenger 
on  his  return  found  to  be  true. 

By  the  judicious  exercise  of  this  foresight 
a  physician  acquires  the  greatest  reputation, 
and  when  his  prognosis  is  the  result  of  mature 
experience,  he  is  entitled  to  be  bold.  Besides, 
the   fears,   the   doubts,    and   anxiety   of   the 


20  RADCLIFFE. 

friends  of  the  sick  ought  to  be  taken  into  ac- 
count: they  have  a  right  to  the  consolation 
of  certainty;  and  the  doctor  ought  not  to  be 
over-scrupulous  of  his  reputation,  nor  entrench 
himself  too  much  in  the  security  of  an  am- 
biguous reply.  His  duties  demand  discretion 
and  humanity:  in  circumstances  of  danger,  he 
is  called  upon  to  give  to  the  friends  of  the 
patient  timely  notice  of  its  approach;  to  the 
sick,  he  should  be  the  minister  of  hope  and 
comfort,  that  by  such  cordials  he  may  raise 
the  drooping  spirit  and  smooth  the  bed  of 
death.  That  "  the  Doctor  should  go  out  at 
one  door  when  the  Clergyman  enters  in  at 
the  other,"  is  a  quaint  conceit,  more  expres- 
sive of  impiety  than  humour;  for  even  when 
the  life  of  the  patient  is  absolutely  despaired 
of,  the  presence  of  a  man  of  a  compassionate 
and  feeling  heart  will  prove  highly  grateful 
and  useful  to  the  dying  sufferer,  as  well  as 
to  his  nearest  relations. 

The  health  of  King  William  continued  toler- 
ably good  till  after  his  return  from  abroad  in 
1697,  on  the  ratification  of  the  celebrated  treaty 
of  Ryswick,  when  my  master  was  again  sent 
for  to  visit  his  royal  patient.     After  rather 


RADCLIFFE.  21 

jocosely  illustrating  His  Majesty's  situation 
"by  an  allusion  to  one  of  2E sop's  fables,  which 
the  King  (previously  to  our  arrival)  was  read- 
ing, in  Sir  Roger  L'Estrange's  translation,  I 
was  rather  startled  at  the  blunt  manner  in 
which  Radcliffe  told  his  patient  that  he  must 
not  be  buoyed  up  with  hopes  that  his  malady 
would  soon  be  driven  away.  "  Your  juices  are 
all  vitiated,  your  whole  mass  of  blood  cor- 
rupted, and  the  nutriment  for  the  most  part 
turned  to  water:  but,"  added  the  Doctor,  "  if 
Your  Majesty  will  forbear  making  long  visits 
to  the  Earl  of  Bradford,  (where,  to  tell  the 
truth,  the  King  was  wont  to  drink  very  hard, ) 
I'll  engage  to  make  you  live  three  or  four  years 
longer;  but  beyond  that  time  no  physic  can 
protract  Your  Majesty's  existence."  I  trem- 
bled at  the  bold  and  familiar  tone  assumed  by 
my  master,  as  well  as  at  the  positive  prognosis 
which  he  ventured  to  give;  but  his  prediction 
was  verified  by  the  sequel.  King  William  died 
in  1702.  The  year  before  this  event,  Dr.  Bid- 
loo  had  accompanied  His  Majesty  to  Holland, 
where  his  treatment  of  his  royal  patient  at 
that  time,  and  for  some  months  before  his 
death,  was  a  subject  of  animadversion  with 


22  RADCLIFFE. 

the  other  doctors  attached  to  the  court.  In 
addition  to  many  other  infirmities  under  which 
the  King  laboured,  he  was  troubled  with  boils 
that  formed  in  different  parts  of  his  body;  and 
for  these  Bidloo  directed  that  his  feet  and  legs 
should  be  rubbed  night  and  morning,  with 
flannel  covered  with  powder  of  crabs'-eyes, 
flour,  and  cummin-seed.  As  to  diet,  the  Doc- 
tor was  exceedingly  indulgent,  allowing  His 
Majesty  to  drink  cider,  ale — in  short,  all  sorts 
of  strong  beer ;  and  to  take  crude  aliments  be- 
fore going  to  bed.  It  was  in  vain  that  Doctors 
Hutton,  Millington,  Blakemore,  and  Laurence 
remonstrated.  On  the  King's  return  to 
Hampton  Court,  the  dropsical  swelling  of  the 
inferior  extremities  extended  upwards,  for 
which  Bidloo  prescribed  a  vapour-bath,  and  in- 
closed the  legs  of  the  patient  in  a  wooden  box 
constructed  for  that  purpose.  In  a  constitu- 
tion so  weak,  which  this  treatment  was  reported 
to  have  still  more  debilitated,  an  accident  was 
likely  to  prove  fatal.  On  the  27th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1702-3,  while  hunting,  the  King  fell  from 
his  horse,  and  broke  his  right  clavicle  near  the 
acromion.  This  occurred  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Hampton  Court;  but  the  French  surgeon 


RADCLIFFE.  23 

Ron j  at  was  at  hand,  and  soon  reduced  the 
fracture.  But  when  he  wanted  to  bleed  His 
Majesty,  a  new  obstacle  arose,  for  it  was  neces- 
sary not  only  to  have  the  sanction  of  some  one 
of  the  court  physicians,  but  also  the  authority 
of  the  privy  council,  for  the  performance  of 
that  operation. 

Notwithstanding  the  necessity  and  advan- 
tage of  rest,  the  King  persisted  in  his  wish  to 
return  to  Kensington,  where  he  arrived  be- 
tween nine  and  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening :  here 
a  discussion  arose  between  Bidloo  and  the 
Surgeon  as  to  whether  there  had  really  been 
any  fracture  or  not.  Ron  j  at  stoutly  main- 
tained the  affirmative;  the  Dutch  Doctor  as 
stoutly  denied  it.  This  point  was, -however, 
at  length  settled,  when  a  new  difference  of 
opinion  occurred  as  to  the  mode  of  applying 
the  bandages.  Bidloo  wished  himself  to  apply 
them,  but  the  Surgeon  said  no,  "  You  are  here 
either  in  the  character  of  a  physician  or  in  that 
of  a  surgeon:  if  the  former,  you  have  nothing 
to  do  with  bandages,  if  the  latter,  c'est  moi  qui 
suis  le  premier  chirurgien  du  Roi." 

After  the  death  of  the  King,  a  paper  war 
took  place,  and  the  various  arguments  and 


24  RADCLIFFE. 

statements  advanced  by  each  party  were  fre- 
quently mentioned  in  societies  where  I  was 
present ;  for  luckily  my  master  had  no  share 
in  these  disputes.  On  the  one  hand  Bidloo 
put  forth  a  pamphlet  *,  published  at  Leyden, 
written  in  Low  Dutch,  in  order,  as  his  ene- 
mies said,  that  few  might  read  it  in  this 
country;  the  year  after,  M.  Ron j at  entered 
the  field  in  a  French  reply  t,  published  in 
London  by  Henry  Ribotteau,  Bookseller  in 
the  Strand,  over-against  Bedford's  Buildings. 
Of  the  public  and  private  character  of  King 
William,  a  prince  so  celebrated  in  the  history 
of  that  period,  it  would  be  presumption  in 
me  to  speak.  No  one  can  deny  that  by  his 
talents  as  a  negotiator  in  the  cabinet,  he  saved 
his  own  country  from  ruin,  restored  the  liber- 
ties of  England,  and  preserved  the  indepen- 
dence of  Europe.  His  great  object  in  accept- 
ing the  crown  of  this  country  was  to  engage 
her  more  deeply  in  the  concerns  of  the  Con- 

*  Verhaal  der  Laatste  Ziekte  en  het  overlij  den,  van 
Willem  de  Derde,  &c.  &c,  in  Leide,  1702. 

f  Lettre  de  M.  Ronjat,  Premier  Chirurgien  de  feu  Sa 
Majeste  Britannique  Guillaume  III.;  ecrite  de  Londres  a 
un  Medecin  de  ses  Amis  en  Hollande. 


RADCLIFFE.  25 

tinent,  and  thus  enable  him  to  gratify  his  am- 
bition, the  scope  of  which  had  always  been 
to  humble  the  French.  When  he  found, 
however,  the  year  after  his  arrival  in  Eng- 
land, that  the  spirit  of  party  ran  so  high 
here  as  to  thwart  all  his  measures,  he  re- 
solved to  quit  the  country  altogether,  go  over 
to  Holland,  and  leave  the  government  in  the 
Queen's  hands.  And  yet  it  is  singular  that 
William  was  naturally  of  so  cold  and  reserved 
a  disposition,  that  Her  Majesty  knew  nothing 
of  this  important  determination,  in  which  she 
was  so  nearly  concerned,  till  she  heard  it  from 
Bishop  Burnet.  It  was  said  also,  that  the 
King,  though  he  occasionally  put  on  some 
appearance  of  application,  was  averse  from 
business  of  all  sort,  and  that  it  was  to  avoid 
company  and  occupation,  that  he  betook  him- 
self to  a  perpetual  course  of  hunting.  Of  his 
own  personal  safety  he  was  very  regardless, 
and  perhaps  his  belief  of  predestination  made 
him  more  adventurous  than  was  necessary. 
The  most  striking  feature  of  his  character 
was,  however,  as  has  been  mentioned  before, 
the  gravity  of  his  deportment;  and  Burnet 
used  to  relate,  that  on  the  most  critical  occa- 


26  RADCLIFFE. 

sion  of  his  life,  on  his  landing  at  Torbay,  in 
1688,  the  King  shook  him  heartily  by  the  hand, 
asked  him  if  he  would  not  now  believe  in  pre- 
destination; was,  for  a  short  time  only,  cheer- 
fuller  than  ordinary,  but  soon  returned  to  his 
usual  gravity.  I  do  not  vouch  for  the  truth 
of  this  story,  nor  for  the  scrupulous  accuracy 
of  the  Bishop  in  all  which  he  relates,  though 
I  have  heard  that  he  is  the  best  and  indeed 
the  only  authority  to  be  met  with  on  many  of 
the  subjects  he  treats  of.  The  repulsive  quali- 
ties of  the  King  were  the  cause,  no  doubt,  of 
the  coolness  that  subsisted  between  the  dif- 
ferent members  of  the  royal  family.  I  recol- 
lect there  was  much  talk  at  the  time,  of  the 
affront  put  upon  the  Prince  of  Denmark,  who, 
on  his  accompanying  the  King  to  Ireland,  was 
not  allowed  to  go  in  the  coach  with  him,  though 
it  was  well  known  that  the  Prince  had  put  him- 
self to  great  expense  on  the  occasion  of  that 
expedition. 

The  Princess,  afterwards  Our  Gracious 
Majesty  Queen  Anne,  was  treated  even  with 
still  less  courtesy;  for,  while  she  was  dining 
one  day  with  the  King  and  Queen,  His 
Majesty  ate  up  all  the  green  pease,  then  newly 


RADCLIFFE.  27 

come  in,  without  even  once  offering  that  rarity 
to  his  royal  consort  or  guest. 

Of  Prince  George  of  Denmark  I  have  little 
to  say,  for  his  physician  was  Dr.  Arbuthnot. 
His  Highness  was  an  invalid,  labouring,  like 
the  King,  under  an  asthma;  and  during  his 
illness,  which  was  protracted,  his  Queen  was 
very  attentive  to  him.  He  died  six  years 
after  King  William.  He  had  the  Danish 
countenance,  blonde,  was  of  few  words — spake 
French  but  ill,  seemed  somewhat  heavy,  but 
had  the  character  of  a  good  mathematician. 
He  made  no  figure  in  politics,  and  did  not 
understand  much  of  the  post  of  High  Admiral, 
which  he  filled,  though  he  possessed  many  good 
qualities ;  was  brave,  mild,  and  gentle.  - 

But  I  must  descend  from  these  high  mat- 
ters, and  speak  again  of  my  master,  and,  I  am 
sorry  to  say,  of  another  disappointment  which 
occurred  in  our  house.  Two  years  after  the 
death  of  Prince  George,  when  Radcliffe  was 
in  his  sixtieth  year,  I  was  somewhat  sur- 
prised, one  morning  after  breakfast,  to  ob- 
serve him  attired  with  more  than  ordinary 
exactness.  His  full-bottomed  wig  was  dressed 
with  peculiar  care;  he  had  put  on  his  best  suit 


28 


RADCLIFFE. 


of  lilac-coloured  velvet  with  yellow  basket  but- 
tons, and  his  air  upon  the  whole  was  very 
commanding.  He  reminded  me  strongly  of 
his  appearance  some  ten  or  fifteen  years  be- 
fore. He  had  an  elevated  forehead,  hazel 
eyes,  cheeks  telling  of  the  good  cheer  of  for- 

This  sketch  is  from  an  original  picture  by  his  friend 
Sir  Godfrey  Kneller,  which  is  placed  in  the  Library  of 
the  College  of  Physicians,  in  one  of  the  closets  of  which 
I  am  now  immured. 


RADCLIFFE.  29 

mer  days,  if  any  thing  a  little  too  ruddy;  a 
double  chin,  a  well-formed  nose,  and  a  mouth 
round  which  generally  played  an  agreeable 
smile.  When  he  sat  in  his  easy  chair,  with 
his  right  hand  expanded,  and  placed  upon  his 
breast,  as  if  meditating  a  speech,  and  clearing 
his  voice  for  the  purpose  of  giving  it  utter- 
ance; his  left  wearing  his  glove,  and  resting 
on  his  side  immediately  above  the  hilt  of  his 
sword,  which  was  a  very  usual  attitude  with 
him,  he  certainly  had  a  most  comely  and  well- 
favoured  appearance. 

I  love  to  dwell  upon  these  particulars  of 
my  old  worthy  master;  for  to  him  I  owe  my 
first  introduction  into  the  world,  and  whatever 
celebrity  my  memoirs  may  hereafter-  obtain. 
When  fully  equipped,  he  stepped  into  a  gay 
gilt  chariot,  drawn  by  fresh  prancing  horses, 
the  coachman  wearing  a  new  cockade,  and  our 
lacqueys  looking  with  all  the  insolence  of 
plenty  in  their  countenances.  We  paraded 
the  streets,  passed  through  Covent  Garden, 
and  the  most  frequented  parts  of  the  town; 
but  it  grieved  me  to  observe,  that  our  glitter- 
ing equipage  served  only  to  provoke  the 
smiles    and    ridicule    of    the    malicious.     To 


30  RADCLIFFE. 

speak  out,  it  was  now  notorious  that  the 
Doctor  was  in  love,  and  that  all  this  parade 
was  for  the  purpose  of  captivating  the  young 
lady  of  whom  he  was  enamoured.  Suffice  it 
to  say,  he  was  lampooned,  proved  unfortunate 
in  his  suit,  and  was  styled  by  the  wicked  wits 
of  the  day  "  the  mourning  Esculapius,"  "  the 
languishing  hopeless  lover  of  the  divine  Hebe, 
the  emblem  of  youth  and  beauty." 

But  more  sober  reflection  and  the  busy 
duties  of  his  profession  soon  withdrew  his 
thoughts  from  these  amorous  toys,  and  he 
continued  actively  employed  for  a  few  years 
longer,  though  it  was  but  too  evident  that  his 
health  and  spirits  were  daily  declining. 

About  this  time  that  celebrated  warrior, 
Prince  Eugene,  so  distinguished  for  his  cam- 
paigns in  Hungary  and  Italy,  where  he  had 
gained  such  splendid  victories  over  the  Turk 
and  the  King  of  France,  arrived  in  England. 
The  object  of  his  visit  was  to  try  if  it  were 
possible  to  engage  our  court  to  go  on  with 
the  war,  which  met  with  great  obstruction. 
But  the  juncture  was  unfavourable  to  his 
project;  for  on  the  very  day  before  his  arrival, 
his  great  friend  and  companion  in  arms,  the 


RADCLIFFE.  31 

Duke  of  Marlborough,  was  turned  out  of  all 
his  places.  The  days  of  intimacy  between  the 
Queen  and  the  Duchess  were  at  an  end;  and 
the  endearing  appellations  of  the  "  poor,  un- 
fortunate, faithful  Morley,"  and  Mrs.  Free- 
man, no  longer  marked  the  extraordinary 
terms  of  friendly  intercourse  which  had  sub- 
sisted between  Her  Majesty  and  a  subject. 
The  Prince  was,  however,  caressed  by  the 
courtiers  for  his  own  worth;  and  though  his 
negotiations  went  slowly  on,  he  was  enter- 
tained by  most  of  the  nobility,  and  magnifi- 
cently feasted  by  the  city.  My  master  invited 
His  Highness  to  dinner;  and  a  large  party  of 
the  nobility,  and  several  topping  merchants, 
particularly  some  of  those  who  had. formerly 
contributed  to  the  Silesian  loan,  were  en- 
gaged to  meet  him.  The  enmity  of  the 
Prince  to  every  thing  French  was  known, 
and  it  had  been  rendered  still  more  notorious 
by  his  admirable  reply  to  an  insolent  threat 
of  the  minister  of  the  Grand  Monarque,  which 
was  at  this  time  in  the  mouth  of  every  one. 
Louvois  had  intimated  to  the  Prince,  that  he 
must  not  think  of  returning  to  France;  to 
which  the  warrior  replied,  "Eugene  entrera 


32  RADCLIFFE. 

un  jour  en  France,  en  depit  de  Louvois  et  de 
Louis."  To  do  honour  to  such  a  guest  was 
the  ambition  of  Radcliffe;  and  in  giving  or- 
ders for  dinner,  "  Let  there  be  no  ragouts," 
said  he;  "no  kickshaws  of  France;  but  let 
us  treat  the  Prince  as  a  soldier.  He  shall 
have  a  specimen  of  true  English  hospitality. 
I  will  have  my  table  covered  with  barons  of 
beef,  jiggets  of  mutton,  and  legs  of  pork." 
At  the  appointed  hour  the  guests  assembled, 
and  the  Prince  charmed  every  one  by  his  un- 
assuming modesty,  his  easy  address  and  be- 
haviour. His  aspect  was  erect  and  composed, 
his  eye  lively  and  thoughtful,  yet  rather  vig- 
ilant than  sparkling:  but  his  manner  was  pecu- 
liarly graceful,  and  he  descended  to  an  easy 
equality  with  those  who  conversed  with  him. 
The  shape  of  his  person  and  composure  of 
his  limbs  was  remarkably  erect  and  beautiful; 
still,  with  all  his  condescension,  and  though 
he  was  affable  to  every  one,  it  was  evident 
that  he  rather  suffered  the  presence  of  much 
company,  instead  of  taking  delight  in  public 
gaze  and  popular  applause.  The  entertain- 
ment of  my  master  went  off  very  well;  all 
seemed  to  be  pleased,  though  some  of  the 


RADCLIFFE.  33 

courtiers  indulged  in  a  little  pleasantry  at  the 
ample  cheer  with  which  the  table  groaned. 
The  princely  stranger  expressed  himself  much 
satisfied,  and  was  loud  in  his  praise  of  some 
capital  seven  years  old  beer,  which  we  hap- 
pened at  that  time  to  have  in  tap. 

I  forgot  to  mention,  that,  a  few  years  be- 
fore the  period  of  which  I  am  now  speaking, 
I  saw,  for  the  first  time,  Dr.  Mead,  who  was 
then  beginning  to  be  known  as  a  man  rising 
in  his  profession,  and  into  whose  hands  I  was 
afterwards  destined  to  fall.  He  lived  then  in 
Austyn  friers;  and  we  found  him  one  morn- 
ing in  his  library,  reading  Hippocrates;  when 
the  following  dialogue  took  place  between  the 
two  physicians : 

Radcliffe  (taking  up  the  volume  of  the 
venerable  Father  of  Physic).  "What!  my 
young  friend,  do  you  read  Hippocrates  in  the 
original  language?  Well,  take  my  word  for 
it,  when  I  am  dead  you  will  occupy  the  throne 
of  physic  in  this  great  town." 

Mead.  "  No,  Sir;  when  you  are  gone,  your 
empire,  like  Alexander's,  will  be  divided 
amongst  many  successors." 

I    felt   that   this   courteous    reply   pleased 


34  RADCLIFFE. 

my  master  mightily;  and  although  Mead  was 
even  then  known  to  be  a  man  of  great  talent, 
had  already  written  his  treatise  on  Poisons, 
published  several  other  works  of  merit,  and 
was  therefore  in  every  respect  deserving  of  the 
countenance  and  patronage  of  the  eminent 
doctor  of  the  day,  yet  I  have  myself  no  doubt 
that  this  well-timed  compliment  to  Radcliffe's 
eminence  served  to  cement  the  intimate  friend- 
ship of  these  two  physicians. 

The  library  of  Mead  was  even  at  this  time 
considerable.  Many  rooms  of  his  small  house 
were  filled  with  books;  and  the  two  doctors 
indulged  in  a  long  chat.  The  conversation 
embraced  many  topics.  Mead  was  very  lively 
and  entertaining;  related  several  anecdotes 
of  things  which  he  had  seen  abroad;  and  de- 
scribed with  great  animation  his  joy  on  find- 
ing the  Tabula  Isiaca  *  in  a  lumber  room  at 
Florence.     Upon  this  subject  my  master  asked 

*  The  Tabula  or  Mensa  Isiaca  is  one  of  the  most  con- 
siderable monuments  of  antiquity.  It  was  discovered  at 
Rome,  in  the  year  1525.  There  are  represented  upon 
it  various  figures  in  bas  relief,  mixed  with  some  hiero- 
glyphics, which  are  supposed  to  relate  to  the  feasts  of 
Isis.  Many  speculations  have  been  advanced  on  the  his- 
tory and  date  of  this  curious  relic  of  ancient  times. 


RADCLIFFE.  35 

many  questions,  and  appeared  much  struck 
with  the  advantage  of  foreign  travel  to  a 
physician.  On  taking  his  leave,  he  again  ex- 
pressed his  admiration  of  the  literary  attain- 
ments of  Mead,  and  said  in  a  tone  of  great 
earnestness  and  sincerity — "  Some  day  or 
other,  the  Alma  Mater  where  I  was  bred  shall 
receive  from  me  substantial  proofs  of  the  true 
concern  I  feel  for  the  welfare  of  the  cause  of 
learning:  for  as  I  have  grown  older,  every 
year  of  my  life  has  convinced  me  more  and 
more  of  the  value  of  the  education  of  the 
scholar  and  the  gentleman,  to  the  thorough- 
bred physician.  But,"  added  he,  "  perhaps 
your  friend  here  (pointing  me  to  a  folio  edi- 
tion of  Celsus  which  stood  on  one  of  the  shelves 
of  the  library)  expresses  my  meaning  better 
than  I  can  myself,  where  he  says,  that  this 
discipline  of  the  mind,  '  quamvis  non  faciat. 
medicum,  aptiorem  tamen  medicince  reddit.'" 
Radcliffe,  as  if  unwilling  to  trust  himself  with 
any  farther  quotation,  embraced  Dr.  Mead, 
and  hastened  to  his  carriage. 

On  the  1st  of  August,  1714,  died  Queen 
Anne;  an  event  memorable  in  the  life  of  Rad- 
cliffe.    The  domestic  physicians  of  Her  Maj- 


36  RADCLIFFE. 

esty,  assisted  by  Dr.  Mead,  had  applied  various 
remedies  without  success.  It  was  reported 
that  the  privy  council,  as  well  as  the  Queen, 
had  given  orders  that  my  master  should  be 
present  at  the  consultation,  and  that  he  ex- 
cused himself  under  pretence  of  indisposition. 
The  truth  is,  he  was  not  in  town  at  that  time, 
but  down  at  his  country-house  at  Cashalton 
in  Surrey,  ill  himself  of  the  gout,  which  had 
seized  his  head  and  stomach.  Yet  notwith- 
standing this,  the  enemies  of  Radcliffe  imputed 
the  death  of  the  Queen  to  his  absence,  and  he 
was  accordingly  threatened  with  assassination. 
This  unpopularity,  undeserved  as  it  was,  made 
him  keep  his  house,  where,  on  the  4th  of 
August,  three  days  after  the  death  of  Her 
Majesty,  Dr.  Mead  and  his  brother  the  lawyer 
came  down  to  dine  with  him  at  two  o'clock. 
In  spite  of  the  ill  state  of  his  health,  the  con- 
versation of  two  such  good  friends  afforded 
him  much  pleasure  and  satisfaction.  After 
dinner,  his  wonted  good  humour  returned, 
and,  taking  me  in  his  hand,  he  presented  me, 
with  the  following  discourse,  to  Dr.  Mead: — 

"  Though  my  life  is,  I  dare  say,  pretty  well 
known  to  you,  yet  I  will  mention  some  of  the 


RADCLIFFE.  37 

leading  circumstances  of  it,  from  which  per- 
haps you  may  be  able  to  derive  some  instruc- 
tion. Since  I  began  the  study  of  medicine, 
I  have  devoted  myself  chiefly  to  a  careful 
examination  of  the  njost  valuable  modern 
treatises.  In  this  particular  I  differ,  I  know, 
from  you,  who  are  a  profound  scholar;  but 
my  books  have  always  been  few,  though  I 
hope  well  chosen.  When  I  was  at  the  uni- 
versity, a  few  vials,  a  skeleton,  and  an  herbal, 
chiefly  formed  my  library.  By  following  the 
dictates  of  common  sense,  while  I  practised  at 
Oxford  after  taking  my  bachelor  of  medicine's 
degree,  instead  of  stoving  up  my  patients  who 
were  ill  of  the  small-pox,  as  was  done  by  the 
Galenists  of  those  days,  I  gave  them  air  and 
cooling  emulsions,  and  thus  rescued  more  than 
a  hundred  from  the  grave.  I  have  always 
endeavoured  to  discountenance  the  attempts 
of  quacks  and  intermeddlers  in  physic,  and  by 
the  help  of  Providence  I  have  succeeded  most 
wonderfully.  My  good  Dr.  Mead,  you  must 
consider  this  conversation  as  quite  confiden- 
tial, and  if  I  mention  any  thing  that  has  the 
air  of  boasting,  you  will  reflect  that  I  unbosom 
myself  to  a  friend,  and  what  I  am  about  to 


38  RADCLIFFE. 

say  is  for  your  encouragement.  In  1686,  I 
was  made  principal  physician  to  Her  Royal 
Highness  the  Princess  Anne  of  Denmark,  and 
soon  after  His  late  Majesty  King  William's 
arrival  in  England,  he  was  graciously  pleased 
to  make  me  an  offer  of  being  sworn  one  of 
his  physicians  in  ordinary,  with  a  salary  of 
two  hundred  pounds  per  annum  more  than 
any  other.  At  the  same  time  he  generously 
ordered  me  five  hundred  guineas  out  of  the 
privy  purse  for  the  cures  of  M.  Bentinck  and 
M.  Zulestein.  Though  I  begged  to  be  per- 
mitted to  refuse  the  post,  yet  the  King  was  so 
frequently  ill  of  rheum  and  asthma,  that,  for 
the  first  eleven  years  of  his  reign,  I  gained,  one 
year  with  another,  more  than  six  hundred 
guineas  per  annum  by  my  attendance  upon 
His  Majesty.  My  practice  rapidly  increased, 
and  I  was  even  credibly  informed  that  Dr. 
Gibbons,  who  lived  in  my  neighbourhood,  got 
more  than  one  thousand  pounds  a  year  by  pa- 
tients whom  I  really  had  not  time  to  see,  and 
who  had  therefore  recourse  to  him.  As  my 
wealth  increased,  you  will  naturally  ask  me 
why  I  never  married:  it  does  not  become  me 
to  speak  of  my  good  or  ill  fortune  in  that 


RADCLIFFE.  39 

line,  especially  now  when  I  ought  to  call  my 
thoughts  from  all  such  vanities,  and  when  the 
decays  of  nature  tell  me  that  I  have  only  a 
short  time  to  live.  That  time  is,  I  am  afraid, 
barely  sufficient  to  repent  me  of  the  idle  hours 
which  I  have  spent  in  riotous  living ;  for  I  now 
feel,  in  the  pain  which  afflicts  my  nerves,  that 
I  am  a  martyr  to  excess,  and  am  afraid  that 
I  have  been  an  abettor  and  encourager  of  in- 
temperance in  others.  Though  by  an  indis- 
creet speech  I  lost  the  good  graces  of  the  Prin- 
cess Anne,  yet  His  Majesty  King  William  still 
continued  to  have  confidence  in  my  skill.  As 
a  proof  of  it,  I  may  mention  that  in  1695  I 
was  sent  for  to  Namur,  to  cure  Lord  Albe- 
marle. After  a  week's  residence  in  the  camp 
abroad,  His  Majesty  generously  gave  me  an 
order  on  the  Treasury  for  £1200;  and  his 
Lordship  presented  me  with  four  hundred 
guineas,  and  this  diamond  ring,  which  I  have' 
always  worn  since.  As  to  honours,  I  have 
always  refused  them:  a  baronetcy  was  offered 
me,  but  of  what  use  would  a  title  have  been 
to  me,  who  have  no  descendants  to  inherit  it? 
I  have  always  lived  in  a  state  of  celibacy,  and 
have  uniformly  replied  to  those  who  formerly 


40  RADCLIFFE. 

urged  me  to  marry  some  young  gentlewoman 
to  get  heirs  by,  that  truly  I  had  an  old  one 
to  take  care  of,  who  I  intended  should  be  my 
executrix,  as   Oxford  *  will  learn  after  my 

*  By  his  will  he  left  his  Yorkshire  estate  to  the 
Master  and  Fellows  of  University  College  for  ever,  in 
trust  for  the  foundation  of  two  travelling  fellowships, 
the  overplus  to  be  paid  to  them,  for  the  purpose  of  buy- 
ing perpetual  advowsons  for  the  members  of  the  said 
College. 

.£5,000  for  the  enlargement  of  the  building  of  Uni- 
versity College,  where  he  himself  had  been  educated. 

.£40,000  for  the  building  of  a  library  at  Oxford. 

£500  yearly  for  ever,  towards  mending  the  diet  of 
St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital. 

After  the  payment  of  these  bequests,  and  some  legacies 
to  various  individuals  mentioned  in  the  will,  he  gave  to 
his  executors,  in  trust,  all  his  estates  in  Buckingham- 
shire, Yorkshire,  Northamptonshire,  and  Surrey,  to  be 
applied  to  such  charitable  purposes  as  they  in  their  dis- 
cretion should  think  best;  but  no  part  thereof  to  their 
own  use  or  benefit. 

The  RadclifFe  Library,  which  is  perhaps  the  most 
beautiful  building  in  Oxford,  was  finished  in  1749,  when 
it  was  opened  in  a  public  ceremony:  it  has  been  appro- 
priated, by  a  late  resolution  of  the  Trustees,  to  the  recep- 
tion of  books  in  medicine  and  natural  history.  But  that 
classical  city  has  to  boast  of  two  other  edifices  which 
bear  the  name  of  the  same  munificent  benefactor,  and  in 


RADCLIFFE.  41 

death.  For,  thanks  to  Providence,  I  have 
been  very  successful,  from  the  very  beginning 
of  my  professional  life;  and  I  had  not  been 
settled  a  year  in  London,  when  I  got  twenty 
guineas  a  day  by  my  practice:  and  even  Dan- 
dridge,  the  apothecary  whom  I  patronised, 
died,  as  I  am  informed,  worth  more  than 
£50,000.  The  liberality  of  my  patients  en- 
abled me  to  live  and  act  in  a  generous  manner. 
My  fees  were  good:  of  which  you  may  form 
some  notion  when  I  mention,  that  to  go  from 
Bloomsbury  Square  to  Bow,  I  received  five 

their  building  the  Trustees  have  been  equally  attentive 
to  the  interests  of  science  and  humanity.  The  Observa- 
tory and  Public  Infirmary  were  both  erected  out  of  the 
funds  of  Dr.  Radcliffe,  by  the  Trustees  of  his  will. 
The  first  of  these  edifices  consists  of  a  dwelling-house 
for  the  Observer,  and  is  amply  supplied  with  astronom- 
ical instruments:  it  is  one  of  the  buildings  first  asked 
for  by  foreigners  who  visit  the  University,  and  is  re- 
markable for  its  beautiful  staircase.  The  Radcliffe  In- 
firmary was  opened  for  the  reception  of  patients,  1770. 

From  time  to  time,  according  to  their  means  and  as 
opportunities  present  themselves,  the  faithful  and  en- 
lightened guardians  of  these  funds  have  ever  been 
found  ready  (in  the  exercise  of  the  discretionary  power 
with  which  they  are  entrusted)  to  contribute  to  every 
charitable  and  useful  purpose. 


42  RADCLIFFE. 

guineas.  I  do  not  tell  this  to  you,  my  good 
friend,  out  of  ostentation,  but  that  it  may 
serve  as  an  encouragement  to  you  to  hear  how 
the  practice  of  physic  has  been  remunerated." 

Here  Radcliffe  paused,  and  appeared  ex- 
hausted by  speaking  so  long  at  a  time. 

Dr.  Mead — "  I  feel  infinitely  obliged  to  you 
for  your  kind  and  confidential  communication. 
No  one  in  the  least  acquainted  with  the  liber- 
ality of  your  conduct  can  for  a  moment  accuse 
you  of  an  ostentatious  display  of  your  wealth. 
The  subject  upon  which  you  last  touched, 
is  one  that  has  often  excited  my  curiosity. 
I  should  like  of  all  things  to  know,  what  Lin- 
acre  got  by  his  profession;  how  much  Caius, 
Harvey,  Sydenham,  and  other  worthies  of 
medicine  received  yearly  for  their  professional 
labour.  The  honorarium  or  fee  of  a  doctor, 
one  would  suppose,  must  always  have  been  in 
proportion  to  the  rarity  of  professional  skill, 
though  we  must  take  into  account  the  greater 
value  of  money  in  former  times.  There  may 
be  notices  of  this  kind  to  be  met  with  in  dif- 
ferent books,  but  the  only  instances  that  oc- 
cur at  present  to  my  memory  are  mentioned 
by  that  great  benefactor  of  our  College,  Bald- 


RADCLIFFE.  43 

win  Harney.  In  the  valuable  and  entertain- 
ing account  left  by  him  of  his  contemporaries, 
he  mentions,  that  about  the  year  1644,  Dr. 
Rob.  Wright,  who  died  at  the  early  age  of 
twenty-eight  years,  was  very  successful  in 
practice.  The  Latin  expression  (for  his  MS.* 
is  written  most  elegantly  in  that  language), 
is,  I  believe,  as  follows :  '  Wrightus  viocdum 
trimulus  doctor,  mille  admodum  coronatos, 
annuo  spacio  lucraretur/  Now,  the  coro- 
natus,  usually  called  a  broad-piece,  was  about 
twenty-two  shillings  in  value,  and  the  receipt 
of  a  thousand  of  these  by  so  young  a  physi- 
cian, who  had  only  been  settled  three  years  in 
the  metropolis,  is  an  instance  of  very  singular 
good  fortune  indeed. 

"  The  next,  is  an  account  of  a  fee  received 
by  Harney  himself,  and  is  thus  related  in  the 
MS.  life  of  that  excellent  man: — 

"  It  was  in  the  time  of  the  civil  wars  when 
it  pleased  God  to  visit  him  with  a  severe  fit 
of  sickness,  or  peripneumonia,  which  confined 

*  Bustorum  aliquot  Reliquiae.  There  is  a  copy  of  this 
curious  MS.  now  in  the  College  Library :  it  was  purchased 
at  the  sale  of  Lord  Verney's  books,  and  presented  to  the 
College  of  Physicians  by  Dr.  Munro,  June  25,  1783. 


44  RADCLIFFE. 

him  a  great  while  to  his  chamber,  and  to  the 
more  than  ordinary  care  of  his  tender  spouse. 
During  this  affliction,  he  was  disabled  from 
practice;  but  the  very  first  time  he  dined  in 
his  parlour  afterwards,  a  certain  great  man 
in  high  station  came  to  consult  him  on  an  in- 
disposition—  (ratione  vagi  sui  amoris) — and 
he  was  one  of  the  godly  ones  too  of  those 
times.  After  the  doctor  had  received  him  in 
his  study,  and  modestly  attended  to  his  long 
religious  preface,  with  which  he  introduced 
his  ignominious  circumstances,  and  Dr.  Harney 
had  assured  him  of  his  fidelity,  and  gave  him 
hopes  of  success  in  his  affair,  the  generous 
soldier  (for  such  he  was)  drew  out  of  his 
pocket  a  bag  of  gold,  and  offered  it  all  at  a 
lump  to  his  physician.  Dr.  Harney,  surprised 
at  so  extraordinary  a  fee,  modestly  declined 
the  acceptance  of  it;  upon  which  the  great 
man,  dipping  his  hand  into  the  bag  himself, 
grasped  up  as  much  of  his  coin  as  his  fist 
could  hold,  and  generously  put  it  into  the 
doctor's  coat  pocket,  and  so  took  his  leave. 
Dr.  Harney  returned  into  his  parlour  to  din- 
ner, which  had  waited  for  him  all  that  time, 
and  smiling  (whilst  his  lady  was  discomposed 


RADCLIFFE.  45 

at  his  absenting  so  long),  emptied  his  pocket 
into  her  lap.  This  soon  altered  the  features 
of  her  countenance,  who  telling  the  money 
over,  found  it  to  be  thirty-six  broad  pieces  of 
gold:  at  which  she  being  greatly  surprised, 
confessed  to  the  doctor  that  this  was  surely 
the  most  providential  fee  he  ever  received; 
and  declared  to  him  that,  during  the  height 
of  his  severe  illness,  she  had  paid  away  (un- 
known to  him)  on  a  state  levy  towards  a  public 
supply,  the  like  sum  in  number  and  value  of 
pieces  of  gold;  lest  under  the  lowness  of  his 
spirits,  it  should  have  proved  a  matter  of 
vexation,  unequal  to  his  strength  at  that  time 
to  bear;  which  being  thus  so  remarkably  re- 
imbursed to  him  by  Providence,  it  was  the 
properest  juncture  she  could  lay  hold  on  to 
let  him  into  the  truth  of  it.  It  may  be  said," 
continued  Mead,  "  that  this  was  an  extraor- 
dinary case,  and  the  fee  a  most  exorbitant 
one,  which  the  patient  paid  as  the  price  of 
secrecy:  but  the  precaution  was  unnecessary 
(as  it  ought  always  to  be  in  a  profession 
whose  very  essence  is  honour  and  confidence) ; 
for  the  name  of  the  generous  soldier  is  never 
once  mentioned  in  the  life  of  Hamey,  though 


46  RADCLIFFE. 

I  have  good  reason  to  believe  he  was  no  other 
than  Ireton,  the  son-in-law  of  Cromwell." 

Radcliffe.  "  These  are  curious  partic- 
ulars, and  I  thank  you  for  them.  To  speak 
once  more  of  my  own  good  fortune,  I  found 
that,  even  seven  years  ago,  to  say  nothing  of 
what  I  have  acquired  since,  upon  inquiry  into 
the  bulk  of  my  estate,  both  land  and  money, 
I  was  worth  more  than  £80,000,  which  I  then 
resolved  to  devote,  all  or  most  of  it,  to  the  serv- 
ice of  the  public.  I  hope,  however,  not- 
withstanding what  I  shall  leave  behind  me, 
no  one  can  accuse  im  of  having  been  sordid 
in  my  lifetime,  or  in  case  of  the  private  dis- 
tress of  my  friends,  not  to  have  instantly 
relieved  them.  I  have  never  been  such  a 
niggard  as  to  have  preferred  mountains  of 
gold  to  the  conversation  and  charms  of  society. 
Perhaps  there  was  selfishness  in  this:  for  I 
never  recollect  to  have  spent  a  more  delight- 
ful evening  than  that  in  the  old  room  at  the 
Mitre  Tavern  in  Fleet  Street,  when  my  good 
friend  Billy  Nutley,  who  was  indeed  the  better 
half  of  me,  had  been  prevailed  upon  to  accept 
of  a  small  temporary  assistance,  and  joined 
our  party,  the  Earl  of  Denbigh,  Lords  Col- 


RADCLIFFE.  47 

peper  and  Stawel,  and  Mr.  Blackmore.  But 
enough  of  this  affair  of  money.  To  one  so 
well  skilled  as  yourself,  I  have  not  much  to 
say  on  the  subject  of  practice;  but  recollect, 
I  beg  of  you,  the  treatment  of  small-pox. 
Combat  the  prejudices  of  mankind  on  that 
point.  By  insisting  upon  this,  I  lately  saved 
the  life  of  the  young  Duke  of  Beaufort.  You 
have  done  much,  by  showing  the  advantage  of 
employing  aperient  medicines  in  the  decline 
of  that  distemper;  and  I  much  regret  that 
the  letter  you  wrote  to  Dr.  Freind  upon  that 
matter,  and  which  you  permitted  me  to  in- 
form him  he  might  publish,  has  not  yet  seen 
the  light.  Go  on  as  you  have  begun;  and  I 
confidently  hope  that  something  more  may 
still  be  introduced  into  general  practice  by  a 
physician  of  your  good  sense  and  liberal  views, 
to  mitigate  the  violence  of  that  most  formid- 
able disease. 

"  But  I  am  now  drawing  to  a  close.  Last 
year,  upon  my  being  returned  member  of 
parliament  for  the  town  of  Buckingham,  I  re- 
tired from  practice,  and  I  have  recommended 
you  to  all  my  patients.  Your  own  merit  and 
acquirements    will    insure    you    success;    but 


48  RADCLIFFE. 

perhaps  your  career  may  be  facilitated  by 
what  I  have  done  for  you.  Recollect  that 
the  fame  of  a  physician  is  subject  to  the 
caprices  of  fortune.  I  know  the  nature  of 
attending  crowned  heads  very  well.  But 
continue  as  you  have  commenced.  Nothing 
could  be  better  than  the  method  you  took  for 
the  preservation  of  her  late  gracious  Majesty's 
health;  though  the  people  about  her  (the 
plagues  of  Egypt  fall  upon  them!)  put  it  out 
of  the  power  of  physic  to  be  of  use  to  her. 
But  I  was  sorry  to  hear  the  other  day,  that 
your  enemies  have  spread  a  report  that,  dur- 
ing the  last  days  of  the  Queen's  illness,  you 
had  pronounced  that  her  Majesty  could  not 
live  two  minutes,  and  that  you  seemed  uneasy 
it  did  not  so  happen.  Tell  me,  I  beg,  the 
real  state  of  the  case." 

"  You  very  well  know,"  said  Dr.  Mead, 
"that  her  Majesty  had  been  long  corpulent; 
and  that,  in  her  latter  years,  the  habit  of  her 
body  became  gross  and  unwieldy.  For  the 
most  part  she  had  a  good  stomach,  and  ate 
heartily.  But  by  reason  of  her  immoderate 
fatness,  and  her  weakness,  occasioned  by  the 
gout,  she  became  so  inactive  that  she  used  but 


RADCLIFFE.  49 

little  exercise.  In  the  beginning  of  her  Ma- 
jesty's illness,  there  was  a  difference  of  opinion 
among  the  doctors  as  to  the  propriety  of 
giving  the  Jesuits'  bark;  but  I  will  not  enter 
into  all  the  disputes  which  took  place  on  that 
occasion.  It  is  enough  to  state,  that  after  the 
appearance  of  the  imposthume  on  the  left 
leg,  and  the  coming  on  of  the  doziness  which 
seized  her  on  Thursday  the  28th  July,  there 
was  no  doubt  about  the  propriety  of  cupping 
her;  and  blisters  were  ordered,  but  not  ap- 
plied, for  what  reason  I  know  not.  The  next 
morning  her  Majesty  was  seized  with  an  apo- 
plectic fit,  attended  with  convulsions.  After 
two  hours  and  a  half  she  recovered  her  senses, 
but  lost  them  again  next  day,  and- died  the 
following  morning." 

Radcliffe.  "  Well,  I  will  inquire  no 
further.  I  see  your  own  modesty  will  not 
allow  you  to  find  fault  with  the  injudicious 
practice  and  fatal  security  of  your  colleagues. 
I  cannot  but  applaud  your  good  feeling  and 
liberality  of  sentiment;  and  wish  you  most 
heartily  success  in  your  future  professional 
life.  Accept  this  cane.  It  has  accompanied 
me  now  for  many  years  in  my  visits  to  the 


50  RADCLIFFE. 

sick,  and  been  present  at  many  a  consultation. 
Receive  it  as  a  token  of  my  friendship,  and 
prosper.     f  Te  nunc  habet  ista  secundum.3 " 

Here  a  twinge  of  the  gout  interrupted  the 
speech  of  my  old  master;  and  Dr.  Mead 
shortly  after  left  for  London,  taking  me  with 
him. 

Dr.  Radcliffe  died  on  the  first  of  November, 
1714,  three  months  after  the  Queen;  and  it 
was  said  that  the  dread  he  had  of  the  populace, 
and  the  want  of  company  in  the  country  vil- 
lage where  he  had  retired,  and  which  he  did 
not  dare  to  leave,  shortened  his  life. 


MEAD. 


CHAPTER  II. 

From  the  possession  of  a  physician  who 
was  kind,  generous,  and  social  in  the  highest 
degree,  but  who  was  certainly  more  remark- 
able for  strong  good  sense  and  natural  sa- 
gacity than  for  literary  attainments,  I  passed 
into  the  hands  of  an  accomplished  scholar. 
Dr.  Mead  was  allowed  even  by  his  antagonists, 
themselves  men  of  great  erudition,  to  be  artis 
medicce  decus,  vitce  revera  ndbilis,  and  one 
who  excelled  all  our  chief  nobility  in  the  en- 


52  MEAD. 

couragement  he  afforded  to  the  fine  arts,  polite 
learning,  and  the  knowledge  of  antiquity. 
But  though  I  had  changed  masters,  it  was  no 
small  satisfaction  to  me  to  return  to  the  old 
House,  for  Mead  not  only  succeeded  Radcliffe 
in  the  greater  part  of  his  business,  but  re- 
moved to  the  residence  which  he  had  formerly 
occupied  in  Bloomsbury-square  *.  My  pres- 
ent master,  on  commencing  his  profession,  had 
first  settled  at  Stepney,  had  then  resided  in 
Crutched,  and  afterwards  in  Austin  Friers, 
for  the  purpose  of  being  near  St.  Thomas' 
Hospital;  but  now  the  distance  of  his  new 
abode  obliged  him  to  resign  the  situation  of 
physician  to  that  charitable  establishment. 

About  six  months  after  the  death  of  Rad- 
cliffe,  I  was  present  at  a  consultation  between 
Sir  Hans  Sloane,  Dr.  Cheyne,  and  Mead.  It 
was  held  on  the  case  of  Bishop  Burnet,  the 
prelate  so  celebrated  for  the  "  History  of  his 
own  Time,"  and  for  the  active  part  he  had 
taken  in  the  great  transactions  of  that  event- 
ful period. 

He  had  been  taken  ill  of  a  violent  cold, 
which  soon  turned  to  a  pleurisy;  and  this  in- 

*  Afterwards  inhabited  by  Sir  John  Rushout. 


MEAD.  53 

creasing,  and  baffling  all  remedies,  his  worthy- 
friend  and  relation  Dr.  Cheyne  called  in  the 
assistance  of  the  two  other  doctors.  Up  to 
this  time  Burnet  had  enjoyed  uninterrupted 
good  health,  which  he  attributed,  not  without 
reason,  to  his  temperate  habits.  "  I  will  give 
you,"  said  the  venerable  patient  to  Dr.  Mead 
(for  the  Bishop  was  now  72  years  old),  "a 
short  outline  of  my  course  of  life.  In  summer 
I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  rising  at  five  in 
the  morning,  in  the  winter  at  six;  and  I  have 
always  officiated  myself  at  prayer,  though  my 
chaplains  may  have  been  present.  I  then 
took  my  tea  in  company  with  my  children, 
and  read  the  Scriptures  with  them.  I  have 
generally  spent  six  or  eight  hours-  a  day  in 
my  study.  The  rest  of  the  day  has  been 
passed  by  me  in  taking  exercise,  making 
friendly  visits  or  cheerful  meals.  But  now,  to 
use  an  expression  of  my  late  gracious  master 
King  William,  whom  I  knew  well  for  sixteen 
years,  I  feel '  que  je  tire  vers  ma  fin.J  JJ 

The  Doctors  listened  to  the  melancholy  pre- 
sage of  the  Bishop,  and  having  put  the  neces- 
sary questions  to  him,  withdrew  into  the  ad- 
joining apartment,  for  the  purpose  of  consulta- 


54  MEAD. 

tion.  I  was  now  in  company  with  two  physi- 
cians of  great  eminence,  though  of  very  dif- 
ferent characters.  On  the  one  side  of  me  stood 
Sir  Hans  Sloane,  who  had  shortly  before  been 
created  a  baronet  by  His  Majesty  George  the 
First,  being  the  first  physician  upon  whom 
an  hereditary  title  of  honour  had  ever  been 
conferred;  in  his  person  tall  and  well  made, 
sprightly  in  conversation,  easy,  polite  and  en- 
gaging in  his  manners,  by  birth  an  Irish- 
man. On  the  other  was  Dr.  Cheyne,  a  Scotch- 
man, with  an  immense  broad  back,  taking 
snuff  incessantly  out  of  a  ponderous  gold 
box,  and  thus  ever  and  anon  displaying  to 
view  his  fat  knuckles:  a  perfect  Falstaff,  for 
he  was  not  only  a  good  portly  man  and  a  cor- 
pulent *,  but  was  almost  as  witty  as  the  knight 
himself,  and  his  humour  being  heightened  by 
his  northern  brogue,  he  was  exceeding  mirth- 
ful. Indeed  he  was  the  most  excellent  ban- 
terer  of  his  time,  a  faculty  he  was  often  called 
upon  to  exercise,  to  repel  the  lampoons  which 

*  At  this  time  he  weighed  more  than  thirty  stone, 
though  he  afterwards,  by  changing  his  habits,  and  living 
on  milk  and  vegetables,  reduced  himself  to  less  than  half 
that  weight. 


MEAD.  55 

were  made  by  others  upon  his  extraordinary- 
personal  appearance.  Nothing  could  be  more 
striking  than  the  contrast  of  the  two  cele- 
brated men  before  me. 

Sir  Hans  began  by  observing,  that  the  age 
of  the  Bishop  might  throw  a  doubt  over  the 
propriety  of  more  bleeding,  but  he  had  so 
often  seen  the  advantage  of  repeated  vene- 
section, that  he  had  the  greatest  faith  in  that 
mode  of  treatment.  "  In  one  case  partic- 
ularly which  I  saw  abroad  " — but  here  let  me 
interrupt  the  Baronet  for  a  moment,  to  make 
an  observation,  which  in  the  many  consulta- 
tions at  which  I  have  been  present,  has  more 
than  once  occurred  to  me.  These  delibera- 
tions are  generally  proposed  either  because 
the  attending  physician  is  at  a  loss  what 
further  to  suggest,  or  that  he  wishes  naturally 
enough  to  divide  the  responsibility  of  the 
management  of  a  dangerous  disease.  They 
are  held  for  the  most  part  upon  ailments  of 
a  chronic  nature,  that  is  upon  such  disorders 
as  afford  time  and  opportunity  to  form  the 
judgment,  and  decide  upon  a  method  of  prac- 
tice; for  it  is  lucky  that  in  urgent  diseases, 
or  those  which  are  called  acute,  the  remedies 


56  MEAD. 

are  simple,  and  that  where  delay  would  be 
dangerous,  the  means  of  relief  are  obvious. 
In  consultations,  there  is  of  course  much  scope 
for  diversity  of  opinion,  but  in  the  whole  range 
of  the  plausible  reasoning  which  the  conjec- 
tural science  of  medicine  admits  of,  there  is 
nothing  so  imposing  as  a  case;  it  bears  down 
all  before  it.  One  of  the  consulting  Doctors, 
after  hearing  the  history  of  the  previous  treat- 
ment, advances  that  he  has  seen  a  case  similar 
to  the  one,  now  under  consideration,  in  which 
he  did  so  and  so  with  manifest  advantage ;  the 
argument  is  irresistible — 

But  this  by  way  of  parenthesis.  "  In 
one  case  particularly  (said  Sir  Hans  Sloane) 
which  I  saw  abroad,  I  saved  a  man's  life,  who 
complained  extremely  of  a  great  pain  in  his 
shoulder,  or  rather  inside  of  his  pleura  an- 
swering to  that  part,  which  increased  on 
breathing  high,  sighing  or  coughing,  for  the 
patient  was  troubled  with  a  short  cough. 
The  man  was  on  board  a  ship  bound  for 
England,  and  it  was  taken  by  all  for  sea  sick- 
ness, but  I  told  them,  they  were  all  deceived, 
and  forthwith  ordered  him  to  be  bled  in  the 
arm  to  about  ten  ounces,  and  gave  him  an 


MEAD.  57 

emulsion,  and  a  pectoral  decoction  of  barley, 
liquorish  and  raisins.  I  immediately  found 
him  much  better,  and  ordered  him  to  con- 
tinue this,  and  to  take  of  crab's  eyes  and  sal 
prunellse,  of  each  half  a  drachm,  and  to  swal- 
low morning  and  evening  the  half  on't,  drink- 
ing afterwards  a  pectoral  draught,  and  in  case 
of  relapse  I  ordered  him  to  be  bled  again; 
which  was  necessary  to  be  done,  for  the  ship 
chirurgeon,  contrary  to  my  desire,  gave  him 
a  vomit:  the  patient,  poor  fellow!  knowing 
nothing  of  it,  till  it  was  down.  His  pains 
thus  returned,  and  I  bled  him  twice  on  two 
several  days,  and  with  an  emulsion  he  was 
cured.  I  have  found  also  (added  Sir  Hans), 
in  similar  cases  great  advantage  in  applying 
a  hot  bag  of  parched  salt  to  the  side;  but 
bleeding  is  the  main  remedy.  I  have  bled  a 
patient  five  times  in  her  foot  and  arm  in 
twelve  hours."  Whilst  the  baronet  was 
speaking,  the  countenance  of  Dr.  Cheyne  un- 
derwent various  changes,  and  when  mention 
was  made  of  the  emulsion,  which  if  I  am  not 
mistaken,  was  a  compound  of  linseed  oil, 
sugar-candy,  and  decoction  of  barley,  it  as- 
sumed a  very  decided  expression  of  disgust, 


58  MEAD. 

for  he  was  a  bon  vivant  of  the  first  order.  To 
the  further  employment  of  venesection,  he  was 
rather  averse,  and  insisted  much  upon  the 
advanced  age  of  the  Bishop.  "  An  old  man's 
body  (observed  Dr.  Cheyne),  is  like  a  plant 
dried  by  the  sun,  its  fibres  are  stiff,  and  juices 
decayed,  and  not  as  in  youth  able  to  prepare 
new  nutriment,  to  repair  the  loss  of  solids  and 
fluids.  For  this  decay  of  the  humours,  the 
cure  of  the  cacochymia  is  necessary;  and  to 
renovate  the  solids,  we  find  no  help  like  warm 
bathing  and  unctions,  and  you  yourself  (said 
he  archly  to  Sir  Hans)  must  have  remarked, 
in  your  own  native  country,  that  the  Irish  live 
long,  who  anoint  themselves  with  salt  butter." 
What  the  remedies  were  which  were  ulti- 
mately ordered  for  the  aged  Prelate,  I  do  not 
now  recollect,  but  his  own  prediction  was  soon 
after  fulfilled,  and  he  died  on  the  17th  of 
March  1715. 

Of  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  I  shall  have  occasion 
to  speak  again  more  than  once,  and  I  can  do 
it  with  confidence,  for  I  had  many  oppor- 
tunities of  studying  his  peculiarities,  and  be- 
ing in  his  company,  particularly  at  the  con- 
versaziones which  were  held  at  his  house  in 


MEAD.  59 

Great  Russell-street,  by  Bloomsbury.  It  was' 
observed  of  him,  that  he  was  on  these  occa- 
sions rather  a  precise  gentleman,  and  used  to 
go  out  of  temper,  when  his  guests  spilled  the 
coffee  over  his  carpets.  But  he  was  very 
lively  in  discourse,  nor  did  he  lack  topics,  and 
having  been  much  abroad,  loved  to  talk  of  his 
travels.  When  only  in  his  twenty-eighth  year, 
he  had  accompanied  the  Duke  of  Albemarle  *, 
on  his  appointment  to  the  government  of  the 
Island  of  Jamaica,  in  the  quality  of  physician 
to  his  Excellency,  being  chiefly  induced  by 
his  attachment  to  natural  history,  to  under- 
take a  voyage,  which  was  not  thought  at  that 
time  of  day  to  be  altogether  free  from  danger. 
As  he  was  the  first  man  of  learning  whom 
the  love  of  science  alone  had  led  from  England 
to  that  distant  part  of  the  globe,  and  was  be- 

*  During  his  stay  in  Jamaica,  a  vast  treasure  which 
had  been  sunk  in  a  Spanish  galleon,  about  forty-five 
years  before,  somewhere  near  Hispaniola,  or  the  Bahama 
Islands,  was  brought  into  the  Downs.  It  had  been 
weighed  up  by  some  gentlemen,  who  were  at  the  charge 
of  divers,  &c.  to  the  enriching  them  beyond  all  expecta- 
tion. The  Duke  of  Albemarle,  as  Governor  of  Jamaica, 
received  for  his  share,  about  £90,000.  A  medal  was 
struck  on  the  occasion. 


60  MEAD. 

sides  of  an  age  when  both  activity  of  body, 
and  ardour  of  mind  concur  to  vanquish  diffi- 
culties, his  travels  were  eminently  success- 
ful. To  say  nothing  of  the  other  curiosities 
with  which  he  enriched  his  native  country, 
he  brought  home  from  Jamaica,  and  the  other 
islands  at  which  he  touched,  no  fewer  than 
800  different  species  of  plants,  a  number 
much  greater  than  had  ever  been  imported 
into  England  before  by  any  individual.  His 
stay  in  Jamaica  did  not  exceed  fifteen  months, 
for  the  Governor  died,  and  the  Doctor  re- 
turned home,  and  settled  in  London.  About 
seven  years  before  the  scene  at  the  Bishop's,  he 
had  published  the  first  volume  of  his  Voyage 
to  the  Islands  of  Madera,  Barbadoes,  Nieves, 
St.  Christophers,  and  Jamaica,  with  the  nat- 
ural history  of  the  herbs,  and  trees,  four-footed 
beasts,  fishes,  birds,  insects,  reptiles,  &c,  illus- 
trated with  the  figures  of  the  things  described, 
which  had  not  heretofore  been  engraved.     3tt 

large  copperplates,  ag  &ig  as  tfje  life* 

This  was  his  first  contribution  to  the  gen- 
eral stock  of  knowledge,  and  when  questioned 
on  the  subject  of  his  voyage,  he  was  used 
to  say,  that  independently  of  the  gratifica- 


MEAD.  61 

tion  of  a  laudable  curiosity,  he  deemed  it  a 
sort  of  duty  in  a  medical  man  to  visit  dis- 
tant countries,  for  that  the  ancient  and  best 
physicians  were  wont  to  travel  to  the  places 
whence  their  drugs  were  brought,  to  inform 
themselves  concerning  them.  Speaking  of 
the  part  of  the  globe  which  he  had  visited, 
he  never  ceased  to  deplore  the  irreparable  loss 
of  fame  which  this  country  had  suffered,  in 
not  being  the  first  to  partake  in  the  glory  of 
its  discovery.  When  Bartholomew  Colum- 
bus, said  Sir  Hans,  was  sent  to  England  by 
his  brother  Christopher,  in  1488,  to  persuade 
Henry  the  Seventh  to  fit  him  out  for  this  ex- 
pedition, a  sea  chart  of  the  parts  of  the  world 
then  known  was  produced,  and  a  proposal 
made  to  the  King,  but  after  much  delay  and 
many  untoward  circumstances,  both  the  map 
and  the  proposal  were  disregarded,  and  the 
money  that  had  at  first  been  set  apart  for  the 
purpose,  and  thought  sufficient  for  the  dis- 
covery of  the  New  World,  was  ultimately  ex-1 
pended  in  the  purchase  of  a  suit  of  fine  tapes- 
try hangings,  brought  from  Antwerp,  and 
afterwards  used  for  the  decoration  of  Hamp- 
ton Court. 


62  MEAD. 

The  scene  I  have  endeavoured  to  describe 
at  the  Bishop's  may  serve  as  a  specimen  of  a 
consultation  of  that  day,  and  has  given  me  an 
opportunity  of  introducing  to  the  reader  a 
very  distinguished  person,  for  such  certainly 
must  Sir  Hans  Sloane  be  allowed  to  have  been. 
About  four  years  after  the  time  I  now  speak, 
he  was  elected  President  of  the  College  of 
Physicians;  on  the  death  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton, 
was  chosen  to  fill  the  chair  of  the  Royal  So- 
ciety; and  after  his  own  decease  gave  origin 
to  the  British  Museum. 

It  is  not,  however,  my  intention  to  follow 
Mead  into  all  the  details  of  his  private  prac- 
tice, but  I  will  point  out  some  of  the  material 
improvements  introduced  by  him  in  his  art, 
and  the  progress  which  the  science  of  physic 
made  in  his  hands. — Mr.  Secretary  Craggs 
applied  to  him,  in  1719,  to  find  out  the  most 
effectual  method  to  prevent  the  spreading  of 
the  plague,  which  had  proved  so  fatal  that 
year  at  Marseilles.  My  master  accordingly 
published  a  discourse  on  that  subject,  which 
was  so  well  received  as  to  go  through  no  less 
than  seven  editions  in  a  twelvemonth.  The 
kingdom  was  at  this  time  governed  by  Lords 


MEAD.  63 

Justices,  during  the  absence  of  His  Majesty 
George  the  First,  who  was  then  in  Hanover. 
An  act  of  parliament  was  passed,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  advice  given  by  Mead;  but  the 
Opposition  of  the  day,  chiefly  with  the  view 
to  thwart  the  Ministry,  caused  two  of  its 
wisest  clauses  to  be  given  up  the  following 
year.  These  related  to  the  removing  of  sick 
persons  from  their  habitations,  and  the  making 
of  lines  of  demarcation  about  infected  places. 
Against  the  adoption  of  these  prudent  pre- 
cautions an  outcry  was  raised,  that  persons  in 
office  intrusted  with  such  powers  might  be 
tempted  to  abuse  them,  and  exercise  their 
authority  in  a  manner  grievous  to  the  subjects 
of  the  kingdom.  Dr.  Mead,  on  the  other 
hand,  contended,  that  Salus  populi  suprema 
lex  est;  and  said  that,  if  the  plague  should 
unhappily  be  brought  again  into  England,  he 
was  sure  the  people  themselves  would  cry  out 
for  help,  notwithstanding  wrong  notions  of 
liberty  may  sometimes  overpossess  their  minds, 
and  make  them,  under  the  best  of  govern- 
ments, impatient  of  restraint.  A  clamour 
like  this  will  probably  be  always  renewed 
whenever  this  subject  comes  to  be  discussed 


64  MEAD. 

by  the  public;  the  bold  and  the  ignorant  will 
excite  it  for  the  purposes  of  gainful  notoriety, 
and  the  selfish  trader  from  a  short-sighted 
view  of  his  own  immediate  interest.  "  But 
suppose  for  a  moment,"  said  Mead  in  conver- 
sation with  a  friend,  "  that  the  laws  of  quaran- 
tine were  useless,  and  that  the  fears  enter- 
tained of  the  contagious  nature  of  the  plague 
were  without  foundation,  how  can  the  com- 
merce of  this  country  be  benefited  by  the 
abolition  of  these  regulations  here,  unless  the 
rest  of  civilized  Europe  adopt  the  same  meas- 
ure, and  agree,  at  a  sort  of  general  congress, 
to  remove  all  restraints  from  their  trade  with 
the  Levant?  But,"  continued  he,  in  an 
earnest  manner,  which  had  all  the  air  of 
prophecy,  "  depend  upon  it,  whenever  the 
doctrine  of  non-contagion  is  revived  in  Eng- 
land (and  it  will  be,  even  a  hundred  years 
hence),  it  will  always  excite  alarm  among  the 
nations  who  are  more  prudent  than  ourselves, 
and  less  eager  to  entertain  every  kind  of  wild 
and  visionary  speculation.  Incalculable  mis- 
chief will  be  done  by  the  broaching  of  this 
pernicious    doctrine  * :    the    speculators    who 

*  This  anticipation  was  actually  realized  not  two  years 


MEAD.  65 

adopt  such  opinions  should  at  least  keep  them 
to  themselves,  or  if  they  will  continue  their 
experiments,  let  them  make  them  in  corpore 
vili,  and  not  upon  subjects  which  involve  the 
general  welfare  of  the  community." 

Two  or  three  years  after  this,  my  master's 
attention  was  called  to  another  matter  of  equal, 
or  perhaps  greater  importance  than  the  one 
just  mentioned;  and  I  had  the  satisfaction  of 
witnessing  another  prodigious  step  made  to- 
wards the  improvement  of  physic.  This  was 
no  less  than  the  mitigation  of  that  loathsome 
disease  the  small-pox,  a  malady  more  formid- 
able, and  infinitely  more  fatal  than  the  plague 
itself.  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montague  hav- 
ing returned  to  England  in  1722,  was  deter- 
mined to  introduce  the  practice  of  inoculating 
for  the  small-pox,  which  she  had  witnessed  in 
the  East,  and  having  before  had  the  opera- 
tion performed  successfully  upon  her  son  at 
Constantinople,  desired  her  family  surgeon  to 

ago;  for  the  mere  agitation  of  the  Plague  question  in 
the  House  of  Commons  excited  the  greatest  alarm  among 
the  maritime  nations  of  Europe,  and  for  several  months 
vessels  sailing  from  England  were  put  into  quarantine  at 
the  different  ports  in  the  Mediterranean. 


66  MEAD. 

engraft  her  daughter  also  with  that  disease. 
The  process  was  witnessed  by  three  physicians 
and  the  family  apothecary;  but  though  the 
success  was  complete,  the  profession  still  re- 
mained in  suspense,  and  caution  prevented 
the  repetition  of  the  experiment.  But  Caro- 
line Princess  of  Wales,  having  nearly  lost  the 
life  of  one  of  her  daughters,  the  Princess  Anne, 
by  small-pox,  was  desirous  of  having  her 
children  inoculated;  and  obtained  from  His 
Majesty  George  the  First,  that  six  condemned 
felons  should  be  pardoned  for  the  good  of  the 
public,  on  condition  of  their  submitting  to  be 
inoculated.  Five  of  the  felons  contracted  the 
disease  favourably;  the  sixth,  who  concealed 
having  previously  had  the  small-pox,  was  not 
infected — but  all  escaped  hanging.  At  the 
suggestion  of  my  master,  the  Chinese  method 
was  practised  upon  a  seventh  criminal,  who 
was  a  young  girl  of  eighteen  years  of  age. 
He  accordingly  introduced  into  her  nostrils  a 
tent,  wetted  with  matter  taken  out  of  ripe 
pustules,  which  nearly  approaches  to  the  prac- 
tice of  the  Chinese,  who  take  the  skins  of 
some  of  the  dried  pustules  which  have  fallen 
from  the  body,  and  put  them  into  a  porcelain 


MEAD.  67 

bottle,  stopping  the  mouth  of  it  very  closely 
with  wax.  When  they  have  a  mind  to  infect 
any  one,  they  make  up  three  or  four  of  these 
skins  (inserting  between  them  one  grain  of 
musk)  into  a  tent  with  cotton,  which  they  put 
up  the  nostrils.  In  the  case  of  the  girl  whom 
my  master  treated  as  above  related,  she,  like 
those  who  were  inoculated  by  incisions  made 
in  the  skin,  fell  sick  and  perfectly  recovered. 

The  attention  of  the  medical  world  was 
naturally  much  engrossed  by  this  new  method, 
and  every  one  was  discussing  the  nature  of 
the  small-pox,  of  which  the  contagious  quality 
was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  properties. 
"  How  strange!  "  said  Mead,  "  that  this  prop- 
erty, apparently  so  obvious,  should,  not  have 
been  noticed  by  every  writer  on  the  subject, 
from  the  very  first  appearance  of  this  danger- 
ous malady  among  us.  Yet  Sydenham,  dis- 
cerning, as  he  has  been  called,  does  not  take 
the  slightest  notice  of  it,  and  perhaps  even  at 
this  very  day,  had  it  not  been  for  the  intro- 
duction of  this  novel  method  of  communi- 
cating it,  its  infectious  quality  might  not  have 
been  universally  admitted.  One  would  sup- 
pose that  the  merest  tyro  in  an  apothecary's 


68  MEAD. 

shop  could  not  have  seen  half  a  dozen  cases 
of  the  small-pox  without  being  convinced  that 
one  person  caught  it  from  another.  An  addi- 
tional striking  example  of  what  has  often  been 
observed  before,  that  the  most  plain  and  ob- 
vious truths  lie  undiscovered  till  accident 
bring  them  to  light. — More  than  twenty  years 
after  this,  Dr.  Mead  published  a  treatise  on  the 
small-pox  and  measles,  which  contained  many 
valuable  observations  on  both  these  diseases, 
and  also  strong  recommendations  of  the  prac- 
tice of  inoculation.  To  this  treatise,  which  is 
written  in  a  pure  Latin  style,  he  subjoined  a 
translation  of  Rhazes'  commentary  on  the 
small-pox  into  the  same  language,  a  copy  of 
which  he  had  obtained  from  Leyden,  through 
the  assistance  of  his  friend  and  fellow-student 
Boerhaave,  with  whom  my  master  maintained 
a  constant  correspondence. 

The  ingenuity  of  mankind  is  exercised  upon 
no  subjects  with  so  much  pertinacity  and 
acuteness  as  upon  those  connected  with  medi- 
cine, and  it  has  often  been  disputed  whether 
inoculation  has  lessened  the  number  of  deaths 
by  small-pox. — One  thing  however  is  certain, 
that  it  has  contributed  to  the  comfort  and  se- 


MEAD.  69 

curity  of  all  prudent  individuals  and  fam- 
ilies; for  though  it  cannot  admit  of  a  doubt 
that  many  formerly  passed  through  a  long  life 
without  the  disease,  yet  such  a  situation  must 
have  proved  a  constant  source  of  uneasiness 
to  themselves  and  friends,  of  restraint  from 
many  desirable  pursuits,  and  at  times  of  abso- 
lute seclusion  from  the  world. 

The  next  improvement  which  Dr.  Mead 
introduced  into  the  practice  of  medicine  was 
entirely  of  his  own  invention,  and  serves  to 
show  that  his  mind  was  not  only  capable  of 
the  extended  views  of  philosophy,  but  was 
alive  to  the  most  minute  circumstances  that 
could  contribute  towards  the  perfection  of  his 
art.  For  the  skill  of  a  physician,  though  it 
assume  a  more  exalted  character  when  dis- 
played in  the  pursuit  of  general  science,  is 
equally  conspicuous,  and  perhaps  more  imme- 
diately useful,  when  exerted  in  the  discovery 
and  employment  of  ingenious  contrivances  for 
the  relief  of  suffering  humanity. 

My  master  had  often  considered  what  could 
be  the  reason  that,  in  cases  of  persons  labour- 
ing under  dropsy,  when  the  water  is  suddenly 
drawn  off,  the  patient  swoons  and  frequently 


70  MEAD. 

dies  on  the  spot.  A  simple  expedient  oc- 
curred to  him,  which  was  this:  during  the 
operation  of  tapping,  to  make  external  pres- 
sure by  the  hands,  and  afterwards  to  apply  a 
bandage  to  the  belly.  I  was  present  when 
this  method  was  first  tried  in  the  hospital, 
and  afterwards  frequently  saw  it  used,  more 
especially  in  the  case  of  Dame  Mary  Page, 
wife  of  Sir  Gregory  Page,  Bart.,  who  was 
afflicted  with  this  disease,  and  died  March 
4th,  1728,  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  her  age. 
In  sixty-seven  months  she  was  tapped  sixty- 
six  times  and  had  two  hundred  and  forty 
gallons  of  water  taken  away,  without  ever 
once  fearing  the  operation  *.  This  was  cer- 
tainly a  most  valuable  discovery,  and  shows 
the  advantage  derivable  from  the  exercise  of 
good  sense  and  sound  judgment;  for  Mead 
naturally  reflected,  that  the  removal  of  the 
pressure  of  the  accumulated  water  caused  the 
fibres  suddenly  to  lose  the  extension  which 
they  had  previously  acquired;  and  it  as  na- 
turally occurred  to  him,  that  the  tendency  to 

*  I  have  heard  that  all  these  particulars  are  carefully 
recorded  on  the  monument  of  this  dropsical  lady,  in  Bun- 
hill  Fields. 


MEAD.  71 

faint  could  only  be  obviated  by  substituting 
an  external  support  to  the  parts. 

But  it  is  now  time,  after  having  related  the 
benefits  he  conferred  upon  mankind  by  en- 
larging the  boundaries  of  medical  science,  to 
revert  to  some  details  of  a  more  domestic  cha- 
racter. It  has  been  mentioned  before,  when 
speaking  of  the  first  experiment  of  inoculation 
made  in  this  country,  that  zeal  for  his  profes- 
sion had  on  one  occasion  brought  my  master 
acquainted  with  the  veriest  outcasts  of  society, 
and  in  contact  with  convicted  felons :  it  remains 
for  me  to  relate  how  the  calls  of  friendship  and 
generous  sympathy  led  him  again  within  the 
walls  of  a  prison. 

In  politics  Mead  was  a  hearty  Whig,  but 
he  reckoned  amongst  his  friends  many  whose 
sentiments  differed  widely  from  his  own. 
Garth,  Arbuthnot,  and  Freind  were  among  his 
chief  associates :  with  the  latter  particularly  he 
had  always  been  on  terms  of  the  most  friendly 
intercourse.  Recently  the  intimacy  of  these 
two  distinguished  physicians  had  been  much  in- 
creased by  a  controversy  in  which  they  were 
embarked  in  support  of  their  own  enlightened 
views  on  the  subject  of  the  cooling  treatment  of 


72  MEAD. 

the  small-pox,  against  the  attacks  of  the  igno- 
rant and  malevolent. 

About  this  time  Dr.  Freind  had  been  elected 
member  of  parliament  for  Launceston  in  Corn- 
wall, and  acting  in  his  station  as  a  senator  with 
that  warmth  and  freedom  which  was  natural 
to  him,  he  distinguished  himself  by  some  able 
speeches  against  measures  which  he  disap- 
proved. He  was  supposed  to  have  had  a  hand 
in  Atterbury's  plot,  as  it  was  then  called,  for 
the  restoration  of  the  Stuart  family ;  and  hav- 
ing been  also  one  of  the  speakers  in  favour  of 
the  Bishop,  this  drew  upon  him  so  much  re- 
sentment that  (the  Habeas  Corpus  Act  being 
at  that  time  suspended)  he  was,  on  March  15, 
1722-3,  committed  to  the  Tower.  Here  he  lay 
a  prisoner  for  some  months,  and  my  master  did 
all  he  could  to  procure  his  liberation:  during 
his  confinement  his  practice  fell  chiefly  into  the 
hands  of  Mead.  As  soon  as  permission  could 
be  obtained,  which  was  not  till  he  had  been 
some  time  in  prison,  we  paid  a  visit  to  Freind, 
and  entered  that  building  whose  low  and  som- 
bre walls  and  bastions  have  frowned  on  many 
an  innocent  and  many  a  guilty  head. 

When  his  room  door  opened,  we  found  him 


MEAD.  73 

in  the  act  of  finishing  a  Latin  letter  to  my  mas- 
ter, "  On  certain  kinds  of  the  Smallpox ;  "  and, 
as  he  perceived  our  approach,  he  came  forward 
with  an  expression  of  great  delight  in  his  coun- 
tenance. "  I  was  writing  a  letter  to  you,  with 
the  permission  of  the  governor  of  the  Tower; 
and  you  are  indebted,"  he  added  in  a  low  whis- 
per, "  to  my  companion  (looking  at  the 
warder,  who  was  in  the  same  chamber  with  his 
prisoner)  for  its  brevity:  for  I  don't  find  that 
his  presence  assists  me  much  in  composition." 
— During  our  interview,  Freind  told  Mead 
that  he  passed  his  time  not  unpleasantly,  for 
that  he  had  begun  to  write  the  History  of 
Physic,  from  the  time  of  Galen  to  the  com- 
mencement of  the  sixteenth  century; -but  that 
at  present  he  felt  the  necessity  of  consulting 
more  books  than  the  circumstances  in  which  he 
was  now  placed  would  give  him  an  opportunity 
of  perusing — "  Though  I  ought  not  to  repine," 
said  he,  "  while  I  have  this  book  (pointing  to  a 
Greek  Testament,  which  was  lying  on  the 
table),  the  daily  and  diligent  perusal  of  which 
solaces  my  confinement.  I  have  lately  been 
reading  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke,  and  I  need 
not  point  out  to  a  scholar  like  yourself,  and 


74  MEAD. 

one  who  has  paid  so  much  attention  to  what  I 
may  call  the  medical  history  of  the  Bible  *,  how 
much  nearer  the  language  of  St.  Luke,  who 
was  by  profession  a  physician,  comes  to  the 
ancient  standard  of  classical  Greek  than  that 
of  the  other  Evangelists.  To  be  sure  it  has  a 
mixture  of  the  Syriac  phrase,  which  may  be 
easily  allowed  in  one  who  was  born  a  Syrian; 
yet  the  reading  the  Greek  authors,  while  he 
studied  medicine,  made  his  language  without 
dispute  more  exact.  His  style  is  sometimes 
even  very  flowing  and  florid — as  when,  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  he  describes  the  voyage 
of  St.  Paul;  and  when  he  has  occasion  to 
speak  of  distempers  or  the  cure  of  them,  you 
must  have  observed  that  he  makes  use  of 
words  more  proper  for  the  subject  than  the 
others  do.  It  is  besides  remarkable  that  St. 
Luke  is  more  particular  in  reciting  all  the 
miracles  of  our  Saviour  in  relation  to  healing 
than  the  other  Evangelists  are;  and  that  he 
gives  us  one  history  which  is  omitted  by  the 

*  This  subject  had  long  occupied  the  thoughts  of  Dr. 
Mead,  although  his  treatise  styled  "  Medica  Sacra,  sive 
de  Morbis  insignioribus  qui  in  Bibliis  memorantur,  Com- 
mentarius/'  did  not  appear  till  1749. 


MEAD.  75 

rest,  viz.  that  of  raising  the  widow's  son  at 
Nain." 

My  master  left  the  prisoner,  with  an  assur- 
ance that  he  would  use  all  the  influence  he 
possessed  to  procure  his  liberty:  "  For,"  said 
he,  smiling,  "  however  much  your  cultivated 
mind  is  enabled  to  amuse  itself  by  reading  and 
writing,  I  presume  you  will  have  no  sort  of  ob- 
jection to  resign  your  newly-acquired  office 
of  Medicus  Regius  ad  Turrim  */J 

Very  shortly  afterwards,  the  opportunity  of 
effecting  this  did  actually  occur;  for  when  Sir 
Robert  Walpole,  the  minister  of  the  day,  sent 
to  consult  Mead  on  account  of  an  indisposition, 
he  availed  himself  of  the  occasion  to  plead  the 
cause  of  the  captive.  He  urged,  that  though 
the  warmth  and  freedom  of  Freind  might  have 
betrayed  him  into  some  intemperate  observa- 
tions, yet  no  one  could  doubt  his  patriotic  feel- 
ings and  loyalty;  that  his  public  services  had 
been  great,  for  he  had  attended  the  Earl  of 
Peterborough  in  his  Spanish  expedition  as  an 
army  physician;  and  had  also  accompanied  in 
the  same  capacity  the  Duke  of  Ormond  into 

*  This  appointment  was  held  by  Dr.  Gideon  Harvey, 
from  the  year  1719  till  1754. 


76 


MEAD. 


Flanders ;  that  he  deserved  well  of  science,  for 
he  had  done  much  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
world  to  the  new  and  sound  principles  of  the 
Newtonian  philosophy ;  and  was  besides  a  man 
of  excellent  parts,  a  thorough  scholar,  and  one 
whom  all  acknowledged  to  be  very  able  in  his 

*  From  a  spirited  medallion  of  Dr.  Freind,  carved  in 
box-wood.     There  is   a  portrait  of  him  in  the  hall  of 
Christ  Church,  Oxford,  upon  which  is  inscribed  the  fol- 
lowing stanza  from  the  pen  of  Anthony  Alsop: 
Cui  suas  artes,  sua  dona  laetus 
Et    Lyram,    et    Venae    salientis    ictum 
Scire    concessit,    celerem    et    medendi 
Delius    usum. 


MEAD. 


77 


* 

profession:  and,  finally,  the  Doctor  refused  to 
prescribe  for  the  Minister  unless  the  prisoner 
was  set  at  liberty.  He  was  almost  immedi- 
ately relieved  from  prison,  and  admitted  to 
bail;  his  sureties  being  Dr.  Mead,  Dr.  Hulse, 
Dr.  Levet,  and  Dr.  Hale. 

The  evening  after  this  event,  there  was  a 
numerous  assembly  at  our  house  in  Great 
Ormond  Street,  attracted  by  the  hope  of  meet- 

*  Mead's  house,  at  the  corner  of  Powis  Place,  now 
No.  49.  There  is  a  good  garden  behind  the  house,  at 
the  bottom  of  which  was  a  museum.  After  Mead's  death 
it  was  occupied  by  Sir  Harry  Grey,  Lord  Grey's  uncle. 


78  MEAD. 

ing  Freind,  and  congratulating  him  on  his  lib- 
eration from  the  Tower.  He  came,  and  every 
one  was  delighted  to  see  him  once  more  at 
large.  Besides  the  number  of  acquaintances 
and  friends  who  were  there,  when  it  is  observed 
that  no  foreigner  of  any  learning,  taste,  or 
even  curiosity,  ever  arrived  in  England  with- 
out being  introduced  to  my  master  ( as  it  would 
have  been  a  reproach  to  have  returned  with- 
out seeing  a  scholar  and  physician  who  was  in 
correspondence  with  all  the  literati  of  Europe) , 
it  may  easily  be  imagined  that  on  so  remark- 
able an  occasion  our  conversazione  was  a 
crowded  one.  When  the  party  broke  up,  and 
Freind  and  Arbuthnot  were  about  to  take  their 
leave  together,  as  they  lived  in  the  same  part 
of  the  town — the  former  in  Albemarle  Street, 
and  the  latter  in  Cork  Street,  Burlington  Gar- 
dens— Dr.  Mead  begged  Freind  to  step  with 
him  for  a  moment  into  his  own  private  study, 
which  was  a  small  room  adjoining  the  library. 
There  he  presented  him  with  the  sum  of  five 
thousand  guineas,  which  he  had  received  from 
Freind's  patients,  whom  he  had  visited  during 
his  imprisonment.  On  returning  to  the  great 
room  he  wished  them  both  good  night,  and 


MEAD.  79 

jocosely  said  to  Arbuthnot  (who  happened  to 
hold  the  office  of  Censor  of  the  College  that 
year),  "Now  I  commit  our  common  friend 
here  to  your  magisterial  care  and  guidance; 
see  that  he  does  not  again  get  into  trouble; 
and  on  the  least  appearance  of  irregularity,  re- 
port him  to  the  President,  Sir  Hans  Sloane. 
I  look  to  you,  Arbuthnot,  to  preserve  har- 
mony *  amongst  us." 

These  meetings,  of  which  Dr.  Mead  was 
very  fond,  took  place  at  stated  periods,  and 
the  visitors  assembled  in  the  library,  a  spa- 
cious room  about  sixty  feet  long,  of  the  rich- 
ness of  which  an  idea  may  be  formed  by  re- 
ferring to  the  catalogue  of  the  sale  of  its  con- 
tents, which  took  place  after  his  death.  The 
books,  amounting  to  about  ten  thousand  vol- 
umes, were  sold  in  twenty-eight  days.  The 
sale  of  the  prints  and  drawings  occupied  four- 
teen evenings,  and  the  coins  and  medals  were 
disposed  of  in  eight  days.  But  at  the  time  of 
which  I  speak,  all  these  literary  treasures  were 

*  Arbuthnot  was  a  dilettante  in  the  art  of  music,  and 
occasionally  composed  sacred  pieces.  One  anthem  by 
him,  "  As  pants  the  hart,"  is  in  the  collection  of  the 
Chapel  Royal. 


80  MEAD. 

collected  under  one  roof;  and  the  assemblage 
of  marble  statues  of  Greek  philosophers,  Ro- 
man emperors,  bronzes,  gems,  intaglios,  Etrus- 
can vases,  and  other  rare  specimens  of  antiq- 
uity, was  most  choice  and  valuable.  Ranged 
along  one  side  of  the  room  stood  the  busts  of 
the  great  English  poets — Shakespeare,  Milton, 
and  Pope:  they  were  of  the  size  of  life,  of 
white  marble,  and  by  the  hand  of  Scheemakers. 
The  corner  in  which  I  was  usually  placed  was 
between  a  statue  of  Hygeia  *  and  a  cabinet  of 
iron  which  once  belonged  to  Queen  Elizabeth. 
This  cabinet  was  full  of  valuable  coins,  among 
which  was  a  medal  of  the  Protector  which 
Mead  frequently  exhibited  as  a  curiosity  to 
his  visitors :  it  had  Oliver's  head  in  profile,  with 
this  legend,  "  The  Lord  of  Hosts,  the  word  at 
Dunbar,  Sept.  1650;  "  on  the  reverse,  the  par- 
liament sitting. 

Placed  in  this  favourite  spot,  I  often  over- 

*  At  Mead's  sale  this  statue,  three  feet  and  a  half 
high,  was  bought  by  Dr.  Anthony  Askew,  for  £50.  On 
the  same  occasion,  a  magnificent  statue  of  Antinous,  of 
white  marble  and  of  the  size  of  nature,  was  purchased 
by  the  Marquess  of  Rockingham,  for  £241.  10s.  The 
celebrated  bronze  head  of  Homer  was  sold  for  £136.  10*. 
to  Lord  Exeter. 


MEAD.  81 

heard  very  interesting  discourse.  On  one  oc- 
casion particularly,  I  recollect  that  the  conver- 
sation turned  on  the  condition  and  rank  of 
physicians  in  society.  The  persons  who  took 
a  leading  part  in  the  conversation  were,  if  I 
remember  rightly,  my  master,  Dr.  Freind,  Dr. 
Arbuthnot,  and  Mr.  Ward,  the  professor  of 
rhetoric  in  Gresham  College.  The  topic  was 
suggested  by  some  accidental  allusion  to  the 
attack  which  had  been  lately  made  by  Dr.  Con- 
yers  Middleton  on  the  dignity  of  medicine,  in 
a  dissertation  *  written  by  him  concerning  the 
state  of  physic  in  old  Rome.  The  indignation 
of  the  physicians  of  that  day  was  naturally 
roused,  and  they  were  all  up  in  arms  against 
the  author. 

Dr.  Mead  began  by  asking,  "  What  class  of 
men  have  deserved  better  of  the  public  than 
physicians  ?  How  much,  for  instance,  does  not 
this  country  owe  to  Linacre,  the  founder  of  our 
College?  He  was  perhaps  the  most  learned 
man  of  his  time,  and  on  his  travels  was  received 
by  Lorenzo  de  Medicis  with  the  most  marked 
distinction.     That  munificent  patron  of  litera- 

*  De  Medicorum  apud  Veteres  Romanos  Degentium 
Conditions     Cantab.  1726. 


82  MEAD. 

ture  granted  him  the  privilege  of  attending  the 
same  preceptors  with  his  own  sons,  and  Lin- 
acre  improved  the  opportunities  he  enjoyed 
with  great  diligence  and  success.  At  Flor- 
ence, under  Demetrius  Chalcondylas,  who  had 
fled  from  Constantinople  when  it  was  taken  by 
the  Turks,  he  acquired  a  perfect  knowledge  of 
the  Greek  language. 

"  He  studied  eloquence  at  Bologna  under 
Politian,  one  of  the  most  elegant  Latinists  in 
Europe;  and  while  he  was  at  Rome  he  de- 
voted himself  to  medicine  and  the  study  of 
natural  philosophy,  under  Hermolaus  Bar- 
baras. Linacre  was  the  first  Englishman  who 
read  Aristotle  and  Galen  in  the  original  Greek. 
On  his  return  to  England,  having  taken  the 
degree  of  M.D.  at  Oxford,  he  gave  lectures  in 
physic,  and  taught  the  Greek  language  in  that 
university.  His  reputation  soon  became  so 
high,  that  King  Henry  VII.  called  him  to 
court,  and  intrusted  him  with  the  care  of  the 
health  and  education  of  his  son  Prince  Arthur. 
To  show  the  extent  of  his  acquirements,  I  may 
mention,  that  he  instructed  Princess  Catherine 
in  the  Italian  language,  and  that  he  published 
a  work  on  mathematics,  which  he  dedicated  to 


MEAD. 


83 


his  pupil  Prince  Arthur.  A  treatise  on  gram- 
mar, which  has  universally  been  acknowledged 
to  be  a  work  of  great  erudition,  is  from  the  pen 
of  Linacre:  Melancthon,  indeed,  pronounces 
it  to  be  inferior  to  none  of  its  kind  then  ex- 
tant. In  his  own  style  he  reminds  one  of  the 
elegance    of    Terence,    and    in    his    medical 

*  From  a  Portrait  of  Linacre  by  Holbein,  in  Kensing- 
ton Palace,  a  copy  of  which  hangs  over  the  fireplace  in 
the  Censor's  Room  of  the  College  of  Physicians. 


84  MEAD. 

treatises  very  nearly  approaches  the  clear  and 
perspicuous  language  of  Celsus. 

"  Linacre  was  successively  Physician  to 
Henry  the  Seventh,  Henry  the  Eighth,  Ed- 
ward the  Sixth,  and  to  the  Princess  Mary. 
He  established  lectures  on  physic  in  both  Uni- 
versities ;  and  he  was  the  founder  of  our  Royal 
College  of  Physicians,  of  which  he  was  the  first 
President,  holding  that  office  during  the  last 
seven  years  of  his  life.  He  was  indeed,"  said 
Mead,  "  a  most  accomplished  scholar:  the 
Latin  style  of  Linacre  is  so  pure  and  elegant 
as  to  rank  him  amongst  the  finest  writers  of 
his  age ;  his  friend  Erasmus  saying  of  him  that 
he  was  '  vir  non  exacti  tantum,  sed  severi 
judicii/ — Though  the  medical  writings  of  Lin- 
acre are  only  translations,  yet  we  cannot  but 
form  a  favourable  opinion  of  his  professional 
skill,  not  only  from  the  general  estimation  of 
his  contemporaries,  but  from  the  sagacity  of  his 
prognosis  in  the  case  of  his  friend  Lily  the  cele- 
brated grammarian,  as  well  as  from  the  ra- 
tional simplicity  of  the  method  by  which  he 
relieved  Erasmus  in  a  painful  fit  of  the 
gravel." 

There  was  a  pause  here,  and  Mr.  Professor 


MEAD.  85 

Ward  asked  my  master  if  it  was  true  that  Lin- 
acre  had,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  changed 
his  profession,  and  entered  into  the  priesthood. 

Mead.  "  Yes,  it  was  undoubtedly  true, 
but  he  still  to  his  dying  day  had  his  thoughts 
upon  physic,  for  it  was  towards  the  close  of 
his  life  that  he  projected  the  College  of  Phy- 
sicians, of  which  he  remained  President  till 
his  death.  It  was  also  true  that,  on  first  ap- 
plying himself  to  the  study  of  divinity,  he 
was  a  most  sincere  searcher  of  the  Scriptures, 
studying  the  Bible  with  great  avidity;  and 
that  on  reading  the  5th,  6th,  and  7th  chapters 
of  St.  Matthew,  he  threw  the  book  away,  and 
swore  that  this  was  either  not  the  Gospel,  or 
we  were  not  Christians." 

Freind.  "  Your  account  of  Linacre  is 
quite  correct,  and  you  have  certainly  not 
passed  upon  him  a  greater  eulogium  than  he 
deserves.  If  any  other  example  were  required 
to  prove  to  the  world  how  much  some  of  the 
members  of  our  body  have  done  to  further  the 
cause  of  learning,  there  is  one  very  ready  to 
be  cited  in  the  physician  to  whom  we  owe  the 


86  MEAD. 

compilation  of  the  first  annals  of  our  College. 
Though  an  Englishman,  we  find  Dr.  Caius 
reading  lectures  on  Aristotle  in  the  university 
of  Padua;  and  afterwards  using  the  influence 
he  possessed  at  court,  where  he  was  Physician 
to  Queen  Mary,  in  behalf  of  literature:  for  it 
was  at  his  instance  that  a  licence  was  obtained 
from  the  Queen  to  advance  Gonvil-hall  at 
Cambridge,  and  incorporate  it  under  the  name 
of  Gonvil  and  Caius  College.  This  College 
he  endowed  afterwards  with  considerable 
estates  for  the  maintenance  of  an  additional 
number  of  fellows  and  scholars.  He  was  Fel- 
low, Censor,  and  President  of  the  London  Col- 
lege ;  and  even  in  advanced  life  never  absented 
himself  from  our  meetings  without  a  dispensa- 
tion. He  was  buried  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Col- 
lege he  had  founded  at  Cambridge;  and  the 
simple  inscription  upon  his  monument,  while 
it  records  the  date  of  his  death,  adds  a  senti- 
ment which  should  reconcile  us  to  the  frail 
and  doubtful  tenure  of  our  present  existence, 
by  the  certainty  and  permanence  of  well- 
merited  posthumous  fame: — 

'  Fui   Caius.     Vivit  post  funera  virtus.     Obiit   1573, 
Mi.  63.'  " 


MEAD.  87 

Mead.  "  The  zeal  displayed  by  Caius  in 
the  cause  of  literature  deserves  every  com- 
mendation, but  it  is  perhaps  more  to  our  pur- 
pose to  dwell  upon  the  claim  he  has  upon  our 
grateful  remembrance  as  the  founder  of  the 
Science  of  Anatomy  in  England.  According 
to  the  fashion  of  his  day,  he  had  gone  abroad 
in  pursuit  of  knowledge;  at  Padua  had  lived 
during  eight  months  in  the  same  house  with 
Vesalius,  and  devoted  himself  with  the  same 
ardour  to  the  studies  of  his  celebrated  com- 
panion: and  let  it  never  be  forgotten  that 
Caius,  on  his  return  from  Italy,  imbued  with 
the  spirit  of  inquiry  and  enlightened  by  the 
lamp  of  science  lately  kindled  in  that  country, 
taught  Anatomy  to  the  Surgeons  in  their  own 
Hall.  Here,  beyond  the  precincts  of  the  Col- 
lege of  Physicians,  reflecting  great  honour 
upon  that  body,  adding  to  his  own  reputation 
and  conferring  no  small  advantage  on  the 
Surgeons,  he  laid  that  solid  foundation  for  the 
study  of  Anatomy,  to  which  may  easily  be 
traced  the  glory  and  after  discoveries  of  Har- 
vey. Caius  began  to  lecture  to  the  Surgeons 
soon  after  their  incorporation  (1540),  and 
continued  to  do  so,  for  twenty  years,  even 


88  MEAD. 

after  he  had  been  elected  President  of  our  Col- 
lege and  appointed  Physician  to  the  Court. 
The  privilege  which  about  this  time  had  been 
granted  to  the  Surgeons  of  obtaining  annually 
four  bodies  of  executed  felons  for  the  purpose 
of  dissection,  was  doubtless  the  cause  why  the 
Hall  of  the  Surgeons  was  selected  for  the 
lectures  of  Caius:  for  when  in  1564  a  similar 
permission  was  allowed  to  the  Physicians  by 
Queen  Elizabeth,  anatomical  preelections  were 
held  at  their  own  College.  Dissections  now 
began  to  be  made  frequently  here,  and  the 
year  before  the  death  of  Caius,  an  order  is 
registered  in  our  Annals  that  three  bodies 
should  be  procured  at  the  expense  of  the  Col- 
lege, two  sectionis  eocperiundi  causa,  and  the 
third  to  be  made  '  a  public  anatomy  of.'  But 
it  is  not  only  by  reference  to  our  Annals  that 
it  appears  to  have  been  the  merit  of  Caius  to 
have  given  the  first  impulse  to  these  studies, 
for  the  fact  is  mentioned  by  contemporary 
writers. — William  Bulleine,  M.  D.,  in  a  very 
curious  book  *,  published  in  1579,  enumerates 

*  A  little  dialogue  between  Soarenes  and  Chirurgi. — 
The  name  of  Caius  was  spelt  in  many  ways  —  Gauius, 
GaviuS;  Kaius.     Anglice  —  Kaye,  Keye,  Cay. 


MEAD.  89 

among  the  cunning  men,  profitable  to  the  com- 
monwealth, the  learned  Doctor,  M.  John 
Kaius,  as  the  first  who  taught  by  learned  lec- 
tures and  the  secrete  anothomies,  the  worthy 
fraternity  of  Chirurgeons,  of  the  most  ancient 
and  famous  city  of  London." 

Dr.  Freind.  "  I  have  not  lately,  as  you 
all  know,  had  an  opportunity  of  consulting 
any  books,  but  I  recollect,  some  time  ago,  hav- 
ing obtained  permission  to  examine  the  early 
volumes  of  our  Annals,  and  being  much  struck 
with  the  importance  attached  to  the  study  of 
anatomy  by  our  ancestors,  and  the  labour  and 
assiduity  with  which  they  appear  to  have  cul- 
tivated that  science.  If  my  memory  does  not 
fail  me,  it  was  in  1581,  about  eight  years  after 
the  death  of  Caius,  that  a  Lecture  on  Anatomy 
was  regularly  founded  and  endowed  at  the 
College.  It  was  in  that  year  that  the  Lord 
Lumley  and  Dr.  Caldwall,  signified  their 
benefactions  for  that  purpose,  and  the  College 
to  show  itself  worthy  of  the  liberality  of  those 
generous  patrons,  though  possessing  very 
scanty  funds,  immediately  voted  all  the  money 
in    their   treasurer's    hands    to    enlarge    their 


90  MEAD. 

building,  render  it  more  suitable  to  their  meet- 
ings, and  more  convenient  for  the  delivery  of 
these  public  lectures.  Their  poor  stock,  it 
would  seem,  amounted  only  to  <£100,  but  it 
must  always  be  kept  in  mind  that  the  funds 
of  our  body  have  never  been  replenished  out 
of  the  coffers  of  the  state,  but  have  been  fur- 
nished solely  by  the  occasional  donations  of 
private  individuals,  or  the  legacies  and  con- 
tributions of  its  own  members.  In  the  time 
of  the  Protectorate  their  treasury  was  at  its 
lowest  ebb,  and  yet  it  is  a  subject  of  pride 
that  even  then  the  ardour  of  its  members  for 
anatomical  research  was  unabated,  for  it  was 
during  this  period  that  Glisson,  whom  your 
friend  Boerhaave  calls  the  '  most  accurate  of 
anatomists,'  published  his  Lectures  on  the 
Structure  of  the  Liver,  dedicating  his  work  to 
the  University  of  Cambridge,  ornatissimoque 
Medicorum  Londinensium  Collegio,  thus 
avoiding,  you  observe,  all  allusion  to  the  regal 
character  of  our  foundation.  But  what  won- 
der, when  the  sour  and  crabbed  Republicans 
of  those  days  were  so  cautious  on  this  head, 
that  in  reciting  the  Lord's  Prayer,  they  would 
not   say — '  Thy  kingdom  come,'  but   always 


MEAD.  91 

'  Thy  commonwealth  come.' — To  return  how- 
ever to  the  Lumleian  Lectures,  two  years 
after  their  endowment,  the  College  built  a 
spacious  Anatomical  Theatre  in  Knight  Rider 
Street,  and  here  Harvey  must  have  given  his 
first  public  demonstrations  of  the  circulation 
of  the  blood,  for  he  was  elected  Reader  *  in 
Anatomy  in  1615.  The  mention  of  Caius, 
Harvey,  and  Glisson,  suggests  the  names  of 
the  other  great  anatomists  of  that  age;  and 
it  cannot  fail  to  strike  us  as  a  matter  of  won- 
der and  admiration,  that  all  the  important  dis- 
coveries in  Physiology  were  made  in  a  very 
short  space  of  time.  In  the  fifty  years  which 
elapsed  from  1620  to  1670,  greater  strides 
were  made  in  enlarging  our  knowledge  of  the 
functions  of  the  living  animal  body,  than  had 
ever  been  made  before,  or  will  probably  ever 
be  made  again.  For  reflect  only,  that  in  this 
interval  the  brilliant  discoveries  of  the  circula- 
tion of  the  blood,  of  the  nature  of  respiration, 

*  The  term  Reader  (Praelector)  seems  to  have  gone 
into  disuse,  except  perhaps  at  Oxford,  where  the  "  Reader 
in  Anatomy  "  teaches  that  Science,  in  Christ  Church,  in  a 
small  but  elegant  Theatre,  which  gives  the  ill-omened 
name  of  Skeleton  Corner  to  a  thickly  peopled,  but  very 
inconvenient  angle  of  that  distinguished  College. 


92  MEAD. 

of  the  curious  system  of  vessels  called  lacteals, 
as  well  as  of  that  to  which  the  general  name 
of  absorbents  has  been  given,  took  place.  In 
fact  the  means  by  which  we  live  and  breathe, 
by  which  our  bodies  are  nourished,  grow, 
change,  and  finally  decay,  were  for  the  first 
time  pointed  out  and  explained. 

"  In  1622,  Aselli  discovered  the  Lacteals. 

"  In  1628,  Harvey  published  his  Doctrine 
of  the  Circulation  of  the  Blood. 

"  In  1647,  The  Thoracic  Duct  and  Recep- 
taculum  Chyli  were  pointed  out  by  Pecquet. 

"In  1651,  The  Lymphatics  were  demon- 
strated by  Rudbeck.     And 

"  In  1668,  Mayow  taught  that  the  oxygen 
of  the  air,  which  had  lately  been  discovered, 
mixed  with  the  blood  in  the  lungs:  in  short, 
published  a  Theory,  in  which  you  will  find  the 
germ  of  all  subsequent  opinions  on  the  na- 
ture of  Respiration. 

"It  is  curious  however  to  reflect  that,  not- 
withstanding the  gigantic  steps  which  Physio- 
logy was  making  at  this  time  here,  and  in  some 
parts  of  Europe,  it  remained  stationary  in 
others;  in  Germany,  for  instance,  it  seems  to 
have  been  about  this  period  pretty  much  in  the 


MEAD.  93 

same  state  in  which  it  had  been  left  by  Galen, 
when  the  structure  of  apes  was  described  as  the 
anatomy  of  man.  So  late  even  as  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  about  the  very 
time  when  Lower  was  making,  at  Oxford,  the 
daring  and  original  experiment  of  transfu- 
sion *,  or  causing  the  arterial  blood  of  one  ani- 
mal to  pass  into  the  jugular  vein  of  another 
(which,  by  the  by,  was  approved  of  by  the 

*  In  1665,  Richard  Lower  made  this  experiment  at 
Oxford;  by  means  of  long  tubes,  the  blood  of  the  verte- 
bral artery  of  one  dog  was  made  to  pass  into  the  jugular 
vein  of  another,  and  it  appeared  proved,  that  there  was 
no  reason  to  fear  any  mischief,  and  that  the  character 
or  nature  of  one  animal  was  not  likely  to  be  changed  by 
inj  ecting  into  its  veins  the  blood  of  another.  An  experi- 
ment similar  to  this,  which  preceded  it  a  few  years,  and 
which,  like  it,  was  founded  on  the  doctrine  of  the  circula- 
tion of  the  blood,  viz.  the  injecting  of  various  fluids  im- 
pregnated with  remedies  into  the  veins  of  animals,  was 
originally  suggested  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  the  cele- 
brated architect.  He  was  one  of  the  early  Fellows  of 
the  Royal  Society,  and  being  a  man  of  the  most  universal 
accomplishments,  was  fond  of  the  study  of  medicine,  and 
occasionally  employed  his  talents  in  the  service  of 
anatomical  science;  in  proof  of  which,  it  may  be  men- 
tioned that  he  gave  the  original  drawings  for  the  plates 
which  illustrate  Willis'  Anatomy  of  the  Brain. 


94  MEAD. 

Royal  Society,  before  whom  it  was  made,  as 
an  expedient  likely  to  be  useful  after  severe 
haemorrhages),  a  grave  dispute  arose  in  Ger- 
many, as  to  the  position  of  the  heart  itself. 
The  contest  was  terminated,  at  length,  by  the 
Professors  of  Heidelberg,  where  the  question 
was  agitated,  having  recourse  to  the  delicate 
experiment  of  killing  a  pig  in  the  presence  of 
the  Margrave  of  Baden-Durlach,  and  clearly 
proving  to  his  Highness,  who  then  laboured 
under  palpitation  of  the  heart,  that  it  really 
was  situated  on  the  left  side  of  the  thorax. 
The  result  of  this  important  discovery  was 
fatal  to  the  fortunes  of  his  Highness'  physi- 
cian; who,  though  he  stoutly  maintained  by  a 
refinement  of  courtly  flattery,  that  the  heart 
of  his  master  could  not  have  a  position  similar 
to  that  of  a  pig,  was  dismissed  in  disgrace. 
But  it  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  longer  upon  the 
superiority  of  our  English  anatomists,  or  to 
recapitulate  the  additions  made  to  this  branch 
of  knowledge  by  the  former  Fellows  of  our 
College,  for  the  Capsule  *  of  Glisson,  the  Tu- 

*  The  general  reader  may  require  to  be  told,  that  these 
are  terms  applied  to  particular  parts  of  the  liver,  the 
heart,  and  the  brain:  though  the  anatomist  may  be  sur- 


MEAD.  95 

bercle  of  Lower,  and  the  Circle  of  Willis,  are 
terms  incorporated  with  the  science  itself,  and, 
like  the  capes,  islands,  and  bays,  which  bear 
the  names  of  our  early  navigators,  will  serve 
to  perpetuate  the  fame  of  these  original  dis- 
coverers. Of  Willis,  the  last  of  these  worthies 
whom  I  mentioned,  let  me  observe,  before  I 
finish,  that,  though  his  Anatomy  of  the  Brain 
is  deservedly  praised  for  the  accuracy  of  re- 
search with  which  it  abounds,  yet  it  contains 
some  notions  rather  fanciful,  since  he  lodges 
sensation  in  the  corpus  striatum,  memory  and 
imagination  in  the  medullary  part  of  the 
brain  *." 

The  conversation  now  became  more  gen- 
prised,  that  in  the  enumeration  are  not  included  many 
other  names  derived  from  the  discoverers  of  particular 
minute  structures:  more  especially  that  no  notice  was 
taken  of  the  claim  which  Willis  has  to  the  honour  of 
having  first  proposed  the  classification  of  the  cerebral 
nerves,  now  most  usually  adopted,  and  given  denomina- 
tions to  several  of  them,  which  they  will  most  probably 
always  retain. 

*  What  is  this  to  the  modern  quackery  of  craniology, 
in  which  every  faculty  and  feeling  has  a  distinct  organ, 
in  which  it  is  generated,  which  however  it  deprives  of 
the  merit,  small  as  it  is,  of  originality? 


96  MEAD. 

eral:  those  who  had  listened  to  the  display  of 
learning  and  accurate  research  which  Dr. 
Freind  and  my  master  had  made,  expressed 
their  admiration  at  the  prodigious  acquisitions 
made  by  the  science  of  medicine,  during  the 
first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  each 
suggested  some  additional  fact  relating  to  that 
subject.  Among  others  there  was  one  whose 
name  I  cannot  now  recall,  but  who  appeared 
to  have  devoted  himself  more  particularly  to 
the  study  of  the  Materia  Medica,  who  ob- 
served, that  this  sudden  and  great  increase  of 
our  knowledge  of  the  animal  economy,  and 
consequently  of  our  acquaintance  with  the 
true  causes  of  disease,  was  perhaps  not  more 
remarkable  than  the  important  additions 
which  were  made  about  this  time  to  our  list  of 
remedies.  It  was  within  the  same  memorable 
period,  he  said,  that  some  of  our  most  efficient 
drugs  were  either  first  made  known  to  the 
world,  or  first  introduced  into  general  use. 
It  will  be  sufficient  to  mention  bark,  ipecacu- 
anha, mercury,  and  antimony;  to  which  four 
remedies,  if  we  add  opium,  it  may  be  ques- 
tioned whether  we  should  not  possess  a  toler- 
ably complete  Materia  Medica.     The  history 


MEAD.  97 

and  fate  of  medicines  is  a  subject  of  great 
curiosity,  depending  upon  the  most  fortuitous 
circumstances;  for  instance,  according  to  the 
earliest  account  of  the  discovery  of  bark,  its 
use  was  accidentally  learned  in  the  following 
manner: — Some  cinchona  trees  being  thrown 
into  a  pool  of  water  in  Peru,  lay  there  till  the 
water  became  so  bitter  that  every  body  re- 
fused to  drink  it.  However,  one  of  the  neigh- 
bouring inhabitants  being  seized  with  a  vio- 
lent paroxysm  of  fever,  and  finding  no  other 
water  to  quench  his  thirst,  was  forced  to  drink 
of  this,  by  which  he  was  perfectly  cured.  He 
afterwards  related  the  circumstance  to  others, 
and  prevailed  upon  some  of  his  friends,  who 
were  ill  of  fever,  to  make  use  of  the  same 
remedy,  with  whom  it  proved  equally  success- 
ful *.  But  it  was  not  only  the  casual  experi- 
ence of  an  uncivilized  people  which  discovered 
this  valuable  remedy,  but  the  first  prejudices 
against  its  use,  which  were  very  strong,  were 
counteracted  by  the  influence  of  a  religious 

*  It  is  amusing  to  contrast  this  first  rude  natural  in- 
fusion, with  the  present  neat  and  condensed  form  of  ex- 
hibiting the  bark:  for  now  a  grain  or  two  of  the  sulphate 
of  quinine  is  the  ordinary  dose  of  the  remedy. 


98  MEAD. 

sect  (the  Jesuits),  totally  unconnected  with 
the  practice  of  medicine;  and  physicians  were 
ultimately  taught  how  to  use  it  with  effect  by 
a  man  who  was  vilified  both  at  home  and 
abroad  as  an  ignorant  empiric.  Sydenham, 
when  speaking  of  bark,  is  very  contradictory, 
and  seems  to  have  been  afraid  to  employ  it 
efficiently;  and  it  was  not  till  Louis  the  Four- 
teenth bought  the  secret  of  the  method  of  giv- 
ing it,  that  the  real  virtues  of  this  inestimable 
drug  were  jproperly  felt  and  universally  ac- 
knowledged. While  Talbor,  the  person  of 
whom  the  French  King  had  made  this  pur- 
chase, was  performing  at  Paris,  about  fifty 
years  ago,  the  cure  of  Monseigneur,  Madame 
de  Sevigne,  in  one  of  her  letters,  describes,  in 
the  most  amusing  manner,  the  anxiety  of 
every  one  at  court,  and  the  rage  of  M. 
D'Aquin,  first  physician  to  Louis : — "  C'est 
dommage,  que  Moliere  soit  mort,  il  feroit  une 
scene  merveilleuse  de  D'Aquin,  qui  est  enrage 
de  n 'avoir  pas  le  bon  remede,  et  de  tous  les 
autres  medecins,  qui  sont  accables  par  les  ex- 
periences, par  le  succes,  et  par  les  propheties 
comme  divines,  de  ce  petit  homme.     Le  Roi 


MEAD.  99 

lui  fait  composer  son  remede  devant  lui" 
&c.  &c.  Sir  R.  Talbor  (for  he  was  knighted) 
died  the  year  after  this  triumphant  exhibition 
of  his  skill,  and  Louis  the  Fourteenth  then 
ordered  the  secret  to  be  published  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  world.  The  same  Monarch  also  first 
introduced  ipecacuanha  into  general  practice, 
having  induced  Helvetius  to  employ  it  largely 
for  the  cure  of  dysentery  in  the  Hotel  Dieu, 
about  the  year  1679.  But  antimony  has  had 
the  most  inconstant  fortune,  for  though  it  was 
known  and  employed  as  a  remedy  as  early  as 
the  twelfth  century,  yet  Valentine  the  Monk 
gave  it  so  indiscreetly,  and  made  experiments 
with  such  ill  success  upon  the  unhappy 
brethren  of  his  Convent,  that  the  metal  is  said 
to  have  speedily  returned  to  the  mines  whence 
it  had  recently  emerged.  Three  hundred 
years  afterwards  it  began  to  be  talked  of 
again;  but  in  1566,  by  a  decree  of  the  faculty 
of  Paris,  confirmed  by  an  arret  of  Parliament, 
it  was  condemned  as  a  poison,  and  was  not  al- 
lowed to  be  openly  prescribed  as  a  remedy  till 
1650;  indeed  it  is  chiefly  to  Sir  Theodore 
Mayerne  that  we  are  indebted  for  the  vari- 


100  MEAD. 

ous  preparations  of  antimony,  as  well  as  of 
those  of  mercury  *. 

Dr.  Mead.  "  It  was  fortunate  that  our 
knowledge  of  the  means  of  combating  disease 
kept  pace  with  our  more  correct  views  of  Phy- 
siology, and  of  course  more  distinct  notions  of 
morbid  changes  of  structure.  But  to  return 
to  the  subject  of  anatomy:  when  I  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  Company  of  Surgeons  to  read 
Anatomical  Lectures  in  their  Hall,  which  I 
did  for  six  or  seven  years,  I  always  insisted 
strongly  upon  the  obligations  their  branch  of 
the  profession  was  under  to  the  early  Fellows 
of  the  College  of  Physicians,  and  I  hope,  as  in- 
formation becomes  more  diffused,  and  scien- 
tific attainments  more  universal,  the  Surgeons 
themselves  will  not  be  so  ungrateful  as  to  for- 
get or  disown  it. 

"  It  would  be  easy  to  go  on  enumerating 

*  The  black  wash  now  so  generally  used  by  Surgeons 
is  a  prescription  of  Sir  Theodore  Mayerne's,  by  the  use 
of  which  he  performed  a  great  cure  upon  Sir  Kenelm 
Digby.     His  formula  is  this: — 

1^ .  Aquae  calcis  %  vj . 
Mellis  rosati  3ii. 
Mercurii  dulcis  5i.     M. 


MEAD.  101 

the  medical  men  whose  names  are  allied  with 
the  history  of  science  and  classical  literature 
in  England,  but  your  own  memories  will  fill 
up  the  catalogue.  Our  archives  contain  sev- 
eral MSS.  which,  if  published,  would  benefit 
the  republic  of  letters:  I  have  often  regretted 
that  Harney's  notes  and  criticisms  upon  the 
works  of  Aristophanes  have  never  yet  been 
given  to  the  world." 

Freind.  "  It  was  intended  that  they 
should  have  been  so.  My  friend  the  Bishop 
of  Rochester  recommended  that  they  should 
be  sent  to  Kuster,  that  learned  critic  to  whom 
we  owe  the  late  excellent  edition  *  of  the 
Greek  poet  which  was  done  in  Holland;  but 
the  work  was  unfortunately  too  far  advanced 
in  the  press  before  the  offer  was  made,  so 
that  Harney's  MS.  still  remains  in  the  College 
Library." 

Mead.  "  I  have  been  much  amused  with 
the  character  drawn  of  Harney  by  his  bio- 
grapher :  it  is  full  of  quaintness  and  antithesis ; 
and,  if  I  recollect  perfectly,  is  to  the  following 

*  Called  Editio  Optima. 


102 


MEAD. 


effect.  '  He  was  a  consummate  scholar  with- 
out pedantry,  a  complete  philosopher  with- 
out any  taint  of  infidelity;  learned  without 
vanity,  grave  without  moroseness,  solemn 
without  preciseness,  pleasant  without  levity, 
regular  without  formality,  nice  without  ef- 
feminacy, generous  without  prodigality,  and 
religious  without  hypocrisy.' — These  are  a 
few  of  the  learned  physicians  who  have  been 
the  pillars  and  ornaments  of  the  pr6fession; 

*  From  a  portrait  of  Hamey  in  the  dining-room  of  the 
College. 


MEAD.  103 

which,  so  far  from  having  been  considered 
formerly  a  degrading  one,  has  not  only  been 
patronized  by  royal  and  noble  benefactors,  but 
we  boast  of  some  of  the  latter  quality  amongst 
our  own  body.  The  Marquess  of  Dorchester 
not  only  left  us  his  library,  enriched  with  the 
best  books,  but  was  enrolled  amongst  our  Fel- 
lows, assisted  at  our  meetings,  and  exerted 
himself  in  every  possible  way  to  promote  the 
study  of  medicine." — [My  master  here  grew 
warm,  and  turning  round  to  Mr.  Professor 
Ward,  more  particularly  addressed  himself 
to  him:.] — "Why  amongst  the  Athenians 
there  was  a  law  that  no  slave  nor  woman 
should  dare  to  study  medicine.  Have  not  the 
greatest  philosophers  of  antiquity  devoted 
themselves  to  it?  have  not  Pythagoras, 
Democritus,  and  Aristotle,  written  expressly 
upon  botany,  anatomy,  and  physic?  It  is 
well  known  that  the  inhabitants  of  Smyrna 
associated  upon  the  coins  *  of  that  city  the 
names  of  their  celebrated  physicians  with  the 
effigies    of    their    gods.     I    am    aware    that 

*  Some  envious  antiquary  has  lately  insinuated  that 
the  coins  from  which  Mead  drew  this  inference  were 
struck  in  honour  of  magistrates  and  not  of  medical  men. 


104  MEAD. 

amongst  the  Romans  our  art  was  not  held  in 
such  high  esteem;  but  it  is  well  known  that  in 
the  time  of  Julius  Cassar,  when  physicians 
came  from  Greece  (the  country  whence  the 
Romans  derived  all  their  polite  learning  and 
knowledge  of  the  fine  arts),  they  were  com- 
plimented with  the  freedom  of  the  Eternal 
City,  a  privilege  of  which  that  proud  people 
was  extremely  jealous." 

Aebuthnot.  "  What  you  have  said  will 
show  the  dignity  of  our  art,  and  who  will 
doubt  of  its  liberality  who  reflects  for  a  mo- 
ment on  the  generous  and  spirited  conduct  of 
our  poor  friend  Garth,  whose  death  we  all 
deplore?  To  whom  but  a  Physician  was  the 
corpse  of  Dryden  indebted  for  a  suitable  in- 
terment? We  all  recollect  how  he  caused  it 
to  be  brought  and  placed  in  our  College,  pro- 
posed and  encouraged  a  subscription  for  the 
expense  of  the  funeral,  pronounced  an  oration 
over  the  remains  of  the  great  Poet,  and  after- 
wards attended  the  solemnity  from  Warwick 
Lane  to  Westminster  Abbey,  where  it  was 
conveyed  on  the  13th  May,  1700,  attended  by 
more  than  a  hundred  coaches. 


MEAD. 


105 


"  But  Garth  was  indeed  the  best-natured  of 
men:  besides  being  a  polite  scholar-,  ever  at- 
tentive to  the  honour  of  the  faculty,  and  never 
stooping  to  prostitute  the  dignity  of  the  pro- 
fession through  mean  or  sordid  views  of  self- 
interest  f." 

*  From  a  portrait  of  Garth  by  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller,  in 
the  Censor's  Room  of  the  College. 

f  Will  no  one  erect  a  monument  to  Garth?  He  and 
his  wife  are  buried  under  the  communion-table  in  the 
chancel  of  Harrow  church,  with  nothing  but  the  following 
rude  inscription  to  mark  the  spot: — 

"  In  this  Vault  Lies  ye  Body  of  ye  Lady  Garth,  Late 


106  MEAD. 

Mead.  "  The  loss  of  such  a  man  we  shall 
all  long  lament:  besides  there  is  something  in 
the  death  of  a  colleague  peculiarly  melancholy. 
His  mind  has  been  formed  by  the  same  studies, 
the  same  motives  must  have  actuated  his  con- 
duct, he  must  have  been  influenced  by  the  same 
hopes  and  fears,  and  run  pretty  nearly  the 
same  career  in  life  with  ourselves;  and  at  his 
death  we  are  forcibly  struck  with  the  futility 
of  all  our  plans,  the  emptiness  and  littleness 
of  all  our  schemes  of  ambition.  I  know  not 
when  I  have  been  more  affected  than  in  read- 
ing, a  few  days  ago,  the  story  of  the  death  of 
Dr.  Fox  as  told  by  Harney,  in  his  Bustorum 
aliquot  Reliquice.  He  was  a  younger  son  of 
Fox  the  martyrologist,  and  had  been  a  warm 
friend  and  active  patron  of  Harney,  the  great 
benefactor,  and,  as  I  may  call  him,  second 
founder  of  our  College.  In  that  curious  MS. 
which  contains  the  characters  of  his  contem- 
porary physicians,  statesmen,  and  other  cele- 
brated persons  of  his  day,  Harney  speaks  in 

Wife  of  Sir  Samuel  Garth,  Kt.  Who  Dyed  ye  14th  of 
May,  In  ye  year  1717. 

Sir  Samuel  Garth, 
Obijt  jane:  the  18th,  1718." 


MEAD.  107 

the  most  pathetic  terms  of  the  death-bed 
scene  of  his  friend,  and  I  will  endeavour  to 
recollect  the  precise  Latin  expressions  in 
which  Fox  takes  leave  of  him.  Mi  amice, 
vale;  crastinus  dies  liberabit  tuum  ah  his 
angustiis.  Et  vale  diocisse  iterum,  porrec- 
tdque  quam  suspicabar  frigidiore  mauu}  eoc- 
pressisse  mihi  lacrymas,  meamque  illam  im- 
belliam,  averso  leviter  capite,  redarguisse  et 
susurrasse.  Hoccine  est  philosophari?  et 
fructum  promere  tot  colloquiorum?  Harney 
adds,  Victus  ego  dolore  et  pudore,  me  domum 
confero  arbitratus  in  ista  d^yavla  levius 
fore  audire  ccetera  quam  videre.  But  let  us 
change  this  melancholy  subject.  Tell  us,"  ad- 
dressing Arbuthnot,  "  are  we  to  expect  an- 
other volume  of  the  Memoirs  of  Martinus 
Scriblerus;  or  are  Pope,  Swift,  and  yourself 
tired  of  the  project?  I  hope  there  is  not  an 
end  of  a  scheme  which  was  so  calculated,  by 
ridiculing  the  abuse  of  human  learning,  to 
benefit  the  cause  of  polite  letters." 

The  answer  of  that  brilliant  wit  and 
scholar  was  unfavourable ;  and  it  evidently  ap- 
peared, from  the  dejected  tone  in  which  he 


108  MEAD. 

spoke,  that  the  change  in  the  fortunes  of  the 
illustrious  triumvirate  which  had  been  occa- 
sioned by  the  death  of  Queen  Anne,  had  de- 
pressed his  spirits,  and  terminated  the  plan. 

Most  of  the  party  had  now  assembled  round 
Dr.  Mead,  to  listen  to  this  hasty  recital  of 
the  merits  of  the  distinguished  physicians  of 
former  days.  Of  the  names  and  persons  of 
many  of  those  present  that  evening,  I  have 
now  no  recollection:  but,  even  at  this  distance 
of  time,  the  figure  of  one  who  leaned  on  the 
arm  of  Arbuthnot  is  distinctly  present  to  my 
imagination.  He  was  protuberant  before  and 
behind,  and  used  humorously  to  compare  him- 
self to  a  spider;  and  was  so  feeble  that  he 
could  not,  as  I  have  heard,  dress  or  undress 
himself,  and  was  always  wrapped  up  in  fur 
and  flannel,  besides  wearing  a  bodice  of  stiff 
canvas.  In  this  description  every  one  will 
recognise  the  form  of  Pope.  He  took  no  part 
in  the  conversation;  but  his  fine,  sharp,  and 
piercing  eye,  directed  as  it  was  alternately  to 
the  different  speakers,  indicated  that  he  felt 
no  common  concern  in  the  subject.  But  he 
did  not  stay  long;  pleading  as  an  apology  for 
his  departure  an  attack  of  his  old  enemy  the 


MEAD.  109 

headach,  and  the  intention  of  returning  to 
Twickenham  *  that  evening.  As  he  passed 
by  the  spot  in  which  I  was  placed,  I  heard 
him  say  to  a  friend  who  accompanied  him, 
and  who,  like  himself,  had  just  taken  leave  of 
Dr.  Mead:  "  I  highly  esteem  and  love  that 
worthy  man.  His  unaffected  humanity  and 
benevolence  have  stifled  much  of  that  envy 
which  his  eminence  in  his  profession  would 
otherwise  have  drawn  out;  and,  indeed,  I 
ought  to  speak  well  of  his  profession,  for  there 
is  no  end  of  my  kind  treatment  from  the 
faculty.  They  are  in  general  the  most  ami- 
able companions  and  the  best  friends,  as  well 
as  the  most  learned  men  I  know." 

The  party  now  moved  to  a  little  distance 
to  inspect  a  bust  of  Harvey,  which  my  master 
had  lately  caused  to  be  executed  by  an  excel- 

*  This  elegant  villa  had  been  recently  purchased  by 
the  poet,  with  part  of  the  money  he  had  received  for  his 
translation  of  the  Iliad;  an  enormous  sum  in  those  days, 
between  five  and  six  thousand  pounds :  but  what  was  that 
in  comparison  with  the  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
pounds  which  the  great  popular  author  of  the  present 
time  has  received  for  the  various  works  with  which  he  has 
delighted  and  instructed  the  world? 


110 


MEAD. 


* 


lent  hand,  from  an  original  picture  in  his  pos- 
session. "  This  bust,"  said  Mead,  "  I  intend 
to  present  to  the  College,  to  replace  in  some 
measure    the    statue    of    Harvey    which    was 

and  stood 
and  which 

was  no  doubt  lost  in  the  great  fire.  I  have 
long  thought  it  a  reproach  that  we  should  not 
at  least  possess  a  bust  of  him  who,  to  use  the 


erected  to  him  during  his  lifetime, 
in  the  hall  of  our  former  building, 


Now  placed  in  the  Theatre  of  the  College. 


MEAD.  Ill 

strong  and  figurative  language  of  the  Latin 
inscription,  gave  motion  to  the  blood,  and 
origin  to  animals,  and  must  ever  be  hailed  by 
us  Stator  Perpetuus." 

Freind.  "  The  skill  of  the  sculptor  has 
been  succesfully  employed  here.  The  mild 
features  of  the  old  man  are  well  expressed, 
and  exhibit  with  fidelity  his  candid  and  gentle 
nature.  I  see  him  now,  in  my  mind's  eye, 
after  the  surrender  of  Oxford  to  the  Parlia- 
ment, and  the  loss  of  his  wardenship  of  Mer- 
ton  College,  in  his  retirement  at  Richmond. 
The  visit  paid  him  there  by  his  intimate  friend 
Dr.  George  Ent,  is  related  in  so  lively  and 
pleasing  a  manner,  that  one  is  almost  present 
at  the  interview.  It  was  in  the  year  1651, 
when  Harvey  was  in  his  seventy-first  year. 
'  I  found  him,'  says  Ent,  '  in  his  seclusion, 
not  far  from  town,  with  a  sprightly  and  cheer- 
ful countenance,  investigating,  like  Demo- 
critus,  the  nature  of  things.  Asking  if  all 
was  well  with  him,  '  How  can  that  be?'  replied 
Harvey,  '  when  the  state  is  so  agitated  with 
storms,  and  I  myself  am  yet  in  the  open  sea? 
And,  indeed,'  added  he,  '  were  not  my  mind 


112  MEAD. 

solaced  by  my  studies,  and  the  recollection  of 
the  observations  I  have  formerly  made,  there 
is  nothing  which  should  make  me  desirous  of 
a  longer  continuance.  But  thus  employed, 
this  obscure  life,  and  vacation  from  public 
cares,  which  disquiets  other  minds,  is  the 
medicine  of  mine.'  Who  does  not  admire," 
continued  Freind,  "  the  modest  altercation 
that  arose  between  the  great  discoverer  of  the 
circulation  of  the  blood,  and  Dr.  Ent,  about 
the  publication  of  those  most  valuable  papers 
containing  his  Exer citations  on  the  Genera- 
tion of  Animals?  One  may  imagine  him  re- 
plying to  the  importunity  of  his  friend,  that 
though,  at  his  advanced  age,  it  was  of  little 
consequence  what  the  world  thought  of  his 
writings,  yet  he  could  never  forget,  after  the 
publication,  at  Frankfort,  in  1628,  of  his  doc- 
trine of  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  that  such 
was  the  general  prejudice  against  him  as  an 
innovator,  that  his  practice  as  a  physician  con- 
siderably declined.  To  be  sure,  he  might  look 
upon  himself  as  recompensed  in  some  degree 
for  the  ingratitude  of  the  public  by  the  regard 
and  favour  of  his  royal  master  Charles  I. 
whose   attachment   to   the   arts   and   sciences 


MEAD.  113 

formed  a  conspicuous  part  of  his  character. 
For  the  King,  with  some  of  the  noblest  per- 
sons about  the  Court,  condescended  to  be  spec- 
tators and  witnesses  of  his  experiments;  and, 
indeed,  His  Majesty  took  so  much  interest  in 
his  anatomical  researches,  that,  with  respect  to 
these  very  inquiries  about  the  nature  of  gen- 
eration, he  had  received  much  assistance  from 
the  opportunities  afforded  him  of  dissecting 
a  vast  number  of  animals,  which  were  killed 
in  the  King's  favourite  diversion  of  stag-hunt- 
ing. 

"  Dr.  Ent  at  last  succeeded  in  obtaining  the 
papers;  and  concludes  the  account  of  their  in- 
terview by  saying,  '  I  went  from  him  like  an- 
other Jason  in  possession  of  the  golden  fleece; 
and  when  I  came  home,  and  perused  the  pieces 
singly,  I  was  amazed  that  so  vast  a  treasure 
should  have  been  so  long  hidden.'  " 

Mr.  Professor  Ward.  "  You  mention 
the  destruction  of  a  former  building;  pray, 
where  did  the  College  meet  prior  to  the  erec- 
tion of  the  present  edifice  in  Warwick  Lane? 
Was  it  not  somewhere  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  St.  Paul's?" 


114  MEAD. 

Dr.  Mead.  "  I  am  glad  you  have  asked 
me  that  question,  for  the  vicissitudes  in  the 
fortunes  of  our  body  will  gradually  be  forgot- 
ten, and  it  would  be  very  desirable  before  they 
are  entirely  blotted  out  from  our  memory,  or 
misrepresented  by  traditional  inaccuracy,  that 
some  more  public  record  should  be  given  of 
them,  than  that  which  is  contained  in  our 
archives.  Though  as  a  narrative  of  events, 
which  has  now  been  continued  uninterruptedly 
for  about  two  centuries  *,  it  would  be  difficult 
to  find  another  of  fidelity  and  interest  equal 
to  that  furnished  by  the  Annals  of  the  Col- 
lege. 

"  Its  very  first  meetings  immediately  after 
its  establishment  were  held  in  the 
house  of  Linacre,  called  the  stone 
house,  Knight-Rider  Street,  which  still  be- 
longs to  the  College. 

"  The  front  of  that  building  was  appropri- 
ated to  a  Library,  of  the  condition  or  extent 
of  which  it  may  be  difficult  to  form  any  tol- 
erable guess  after  the  lapse  of  so  many 
years.     It  would  of  course  contain  copies  of 

*  Now  more  than  300  years. 


MEAD 


115 


The  stone  house,  No.  5,  Knight-Rider  Street.  The 
armorial  ensigns  of  the  College  are  placed  between  the 
two  centre  windows  of  the  first  floor.  Their  proper 
blazon  is  as  follows : — 

Sable,  a  hand  proper,  vested  argent,  issuant  out  of 
clouds  in  chief  of  the  second,  rayonee,  Or,  feeling  the 
pulse  of  an  arm  in  fesse,  proper,  issuant  from  the  sinister 
side  of  the  shield,  vested  argent;  in  base  a  pomegranate 
between  five  demi-fleurs-de-lis  bordering  the  edge  of  the 
escutcheon,  Or. 

These  arms  were  obtained  in  1546.  Johanne  Barker, 
Gartero  Armorum  Rege. 


116  MEAD. 

Linacre's  *  own  works,  and  there  are 
records  of  an  early  date  of  donations 
and   bequests   made   to   it   of  books,   globes, 
mathematical  instruments,  and  minerals. 

"  Rather  more  than  forty  years  had  elapsed 

from  the  death  of  Linacre,  before  permission 

having  been  obtained  from  Queen  Elizabeth, 

dissections    began    to    be    performed 

1564. 

within  the  walls  of  the  College,  and, 
if  I  am  not  mistaken,  Dr.  Lopus  was  the  first 
Physician  appointed  to  give  a  public  demon- 
stration. 

"  As  soon  as  the  Lumleian  Lectures  were 
founded,  a  spacious  Anatomical  Thea- 

1  583 

tre  was  built,  adjoining  the  house  of 
Linacre,  and  here  Harvey  gave  his 
first  Course  of  Lectures. 

*  In  the  British  Museum  there  are  two  copies  of  Lin- 
acre's translation  of  the  fourteen  books  of  Galen's 
Methodus  Medendi.  They  are  in  the  finest  possible 
condition^  and  are  the  presentation  copies  of  Henry  the 
Eighth  and  Cardinal  Wolsey.  The  title  of  the  King's 
copy  is  illuminated  with  the  royal  arms;  that  of  Wol- 
sey's  is  decorated  with  the  Cardinal's  hat.  On  the  bind- 
ing of  his  Majesty's  are  the  royal  arms  and  motto  im- 
pressed; the  dedication  to  the  Cardinal  is  in  manuscript: 
they  are  both  on  spotless  vellum. 


MEAD.  117 

"  But  about  the  time  of  the  accession  of 
Charles  the  First,  notwithstanding  the  con- 
dition of  its  treasury,  the  College  removed 
to  another  spot,  and  were  enabled  by  the  con- 
tributions of  its  own  Members,  assisted  by  the 
liberality  of  two  distinguished  individuals,  to 
take  a  house  of  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of 
St.  Paul's,  at  the  bottom  of  Amen  Corner. 
The  lease  of  these  premises  was  afterwards, 
from  time  to  time  renewed,  a  botanical  gar- 
den adjoining  was  planted,  and  an  Anato- 
mical Theatre  built,  which  last  was  rendered 
not  only  commodious,  but  even  orna- 

1641. 

mental,  by  the  bequest  of  one  of  our 
Fellows  *. 

"  The  part  of  the  house  not  actually  re- 
quired for  the  College  meetings,  was  let  to 
one  of  its  members,  upon  certain  conditions, 
one  of  which  was  that  he  should  maintain  the 
garden  handsomely;  and,  small  as  it  was,  the 
rent  paid  by  this  occupant  was  the  only  per- 
manent revenue  at  that  time  accruing  to  the 
College;  for  the  fees  of  admission  were  of 
course  uncertain. 

*  Dr.  Alexander  Read  gave,  by  will,  £100  to  orna- 
ment the  Anatomical  Theatre. 


118  MEAD. 

"  In  the  calamities  and  troubles  of  the  civil 
wars,  it  was  impossible  for  the  College 
not  to  be  involved,  and  when  the 
Parliament,  by  an  ordinance  of  the  two 
Houses,  imposed  the  heaviest  and  most  un- 
usual taxes,  seizing,  wherever  they  had  power, 
upon  the  revenues  of  the  King's  party,  they 
were  reduced  to  the  greatest  distress.  On  the 
City  of  London  alone,  besides  an  imposition 
of  the  five  and  twentieth  part  of  every  man's 
substance,  a  weekly  assessment  was  levied  of 
<£l 0,000,  of  which  the  portion  allotted  to  the 
College  was  £5  per  week.  In  consequence  of 
these  exactions  they  became  much  em- 
barrassed, were  for  a  time  unable  to  pay  the 
rent  due  to  St.  Paul's,  and  to  add  to  their 
distress,  when  it  seemed  to  be  the  intention  of 
many  leaders  in  Parliament  to  admit  of  no 
established  religion,  their  premises  were  con- 
demned, as  part  of  the  property  of  the  church, 
to  be  sold  by  public  auction.  To  prevent 
their  falling  into  the  hands  of  any  illiberal 
proprietor,  Dr.  Harney  became  the  purchaser 
of  the  house  and  garden,  which  two 

1649.  . 

years  afterwards  he  gave  in  perpetuity 


MEAD.  119 

to  his  colleagues.  This  he  did  most  oppor- 
tunely, since  the  design  then  entertained  by 
the  great  Harvey  of  building  a  Museum  in 
the  College  Garden  might  otherwise  have  been 
frustrated.  This  generous  project  was  an- 
nounced at  one  of  the  meetings,  in  the  follow- 
ing modest  manner:  — 

"  '  If  (said  the  President*)  I  can  procure 
one  that  will  build  us  a  library  and  a  reposi- 
tory for  simples  and  rarities,  such  an  one  as 
shall  be  suitable  and  honourable  to  the  Col- 
lege, will  you  assent  to  have  it  done  or  no, 
and  give  me  leave,  and  such  others  as  I  shall 
desire,  to  be  the  designers  and  overlookers  of 
the  work,  both  for  conveniency  and  orna- 
ment ?' 

"  The  College,  as  might  be  expected,  as- 
sented most  willingly  to  so  liberal  a  proposal, 
and  voted  a  statue,  bearing  the  following  in- 
scription on  its  pedestal,  to  be  placed  in  their 
Hall,  in  honour  of  Harvey,  who  was  the  per- 
son alluded  to  in  the  speech  of  the  Presi- 
dent : — 

*  Dr.  Prujean. 


120  MEAD. 

GuLIELMO    HARVEIO 
VlRO    MoNUMENTIS    SUIS    IMMORTALI 

Hoc  insuper  Collegium  Medicorum  Londinense 

Posuit 

Qui  enim  Sanguinis  Motum 

ut  ET 

Animalibus   ortum   DEDIT  MERUIT  ESSE 
Stator  Perpetuus 

The  building  was  now  begun,  and  finished 
the  following  year,  and  when  the 
Fellows  had  all  met  on  the  2d  of 
February,  the  doors  of  the  Museum  being 
thrown  open,  the  munificent  old  man,  for  he 
w,as  now  nearly  eighty  years  old,  in  the  most 
benevolent  manner,  and  wishing  all  prosperity 
to  the  Republic  of  Medicine,  presented  at  once 
the  Mansion  and  all  its  valuable  contents  to 
the  College  *.     He  then  laid  down  the  office 

*  In  March,  1823,  the  late  Earl  of  Winchilsea  pre- 
sented to  the  College  some  anatomical  preparations  which 
belonged  to  his  ancestor  Dr.  Harvey;  for  the  niece  of 
Harvey  was  married  to  the  Lord  Chancellor  Nottingham, 
of  whom  the  late  Earl  was  the  direct  descendant,  and 
possessed  his  property.  At  Burleigh  on  the  Hill,  where 
these  curious  preparations  had  been  carefully  kept,  is  a 
fine  picture  of  the  illustrious  physician.     Lord  Winchil- 


MEAD.  121 

of  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery, 
which  he  had  hitherto  held;  when  Glisson  was 

sea,  in  presenting  them  to  the  College  of  Physicians,  ex- 
pressed a  hope  that  these  specimens  of  the  scientific  re- 
searches of  Harvey  might  be  deemed  worthy  of  their 
acceptance,  and  thought  that  they  could  nowhere  be  so 
well  placed  as  in  the  hands  of  that  learned  body,  of 
which  he  had  been  so  distinguished  a  member.  The 
preparations  themselves  consist  of  six  tables  or  boards, 
upon  which  are  spread  the  different  nerves  and  blood- 
vessels, carefully  dissected  out  of  the  body:  in  one  of 
them  the  semi-lunar  valves  of  the  aorta  are  distinctly  to 
be  seen.  When  Harvey  delivered  his  Lumleian  Lec- 
tures, he  may  frequently  have  exhibited  these  prepara- 
tions, and  by  their  help  explained  some  points  of  his  new 
doctrine  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood.  They  were  most 
probably  made  by  Harvey  himself;  and  he  might  have 
learned  the  art  in  Italy,  for  he  studied  at  Padua  in  1602. 
A  few  years  afterwards,  on  his  return  to  England,  he  was 
appointed  anatomical  and  surgical  lecturer  to  the  College 
of  Physicians,  and  in  1616,  read  a  course  of  lectures 
there,  of  which  the  original  manuscripts  are  preserved  in 
the  British  Museum.  In  the  College  of  Surgeons  are 
some  preparations  similar  to  these  of  Harvey,  which  orig- 
inally belonged  to  the  Museum  of  the  Royal  Society, 
kept  at  Gresham  College.  They  were  the  generous  gift 
of  John  Evelyn,  Esquire,  who  bought  them  at  Padua, 
where  he  saw  them,  with  great  industry  and  exactness 
(according  to  the  best  method  then  used)  taken  out  of 
the  body  of  a  man,  and  very  curiously  spread  upon  four 


122  MEAD. 

appointed  to  succeed  him.  The  garden,  of  an 
irregular  form,  extended  as  far  as  the  Old 

large  tables.  They  were  the  work  of  Fabritius  Bar- 
toletus,  then  Veslingius's  assistant  there,  and  afterwards 
physician  to  the  King  of  Poland.  Vide  Catalogue  or 
Description  of  the  natural  and  artificial  Rarities  belong- 
ing to  the  Royal  Society,  etc.     By  Nehemiah  Grew,  1681. 

Since  the  time  of  Harvey,  the  method  of  preserving 
different  parts  of  the  body  has  undergone  many  changes, 
and  much  improvement;  and  the  history  of  the  art  would 
be  a  subj  ect  of  curious  investigation. 

In  the  Philosophical  Transactions  for  May  7,  1666, 
Mr.  Boyle  mentions  a  method  he  had  invented  of  pre- 
serving or  embalming  the  embryo  of  a  chick  in  a  glass 
filled  with  spirit  of  wine,  to  which  he  sometimes  added 
a  little  sal  armoniack,  as  he  observed  it  never  coagulated 
the  spirit  of  wine. 

Ruysch,  the  professor  at  Amsterdam,  if  not  the  dis- 
coverer of  the  use  of  injections,  for  the  display  of  vas- 
cular and  other  structure,  contributed,  together  with 
the  suggestions  of  De  Graaf  and  Swammerdam,  by  his 
own  ingenuity  and  industry,  to  introduce  that  important 
practice  among  anatomists.  His  museum  became  ulti- 
mately the  most  magnificent  that  any  private  individual 
had  ever,  at  that  time,  accumulated,  and  was  the  resort 
of  visitors  of  every  description.  Generals,  ambassadors, 
princes,  and  even  kings,  were  happy  in  the  opportunity 
of  visiting  it.     It  was  purchased  in  1717,  by  the  Czar 


MEAD.  123 

Bailey  to  the  west,  and  towards  the  south 
reached  to  the  Church  of  St.  Martin,  Ludgate, 
and  the  Museum  of  Harvey  must  have  stood 
very  near  to  the  spot  upon  which  Stationers 
Hall  has  since  been  built.  It  consisted  of  an 
elegantly  furnished  convocation  room,  and  a 
library  filled  with  choice  books  and  surgical 
instruments.  Every  patron  of  learning  has- 
tened to  enrich  this  edifice ;  the  Marquis 

1655. 

of  Dorchester  gave  <£100,  for  the  pur- 
chase of  books;  the  famous  Selden  *  left  by 

Peter  the  Great,  for  thirty  thousand  florins,  and  sent  to 
Petersburg. 

Dr.  Frank  Nicholls,  who  married  a  daughter  of  Mead's, 
was  the  inventor  of  corroded  anatomical  preparations. 
He  was  at  one  time  professor  of  anatomy  at  Oxford,  and 
author  of  a  treatise  De  Anima  Medicd. 

*  Selden,  styled  by  Grotius,  the  "  glory  of  the  English 
nation,"  died  about  this  time,  and  is  thus  noticed  by 
Harney  in  his  Bustorum  aliquot  Reliquiae. 

"  Johannes  Seldenus  J.  C.  Qui  res  a  memoria  remo- 
tissimas  revocare  mortalibus  in  memoriam  semper 
studuit;  Ipsus  omnium  oblivisci  morte  coactus  est." — 
1  Dec.  1654. 

This  may  serve  as  a  specimen  of  the  epigrammatic 
style  of  this  curious  work,  which  is  generally  character- 
ized by  great  good  nature,  though  occasionally  the  author 


124  MEAD. 

will  some  curious  oriental  MSS.  relating  to 
physic,  and  Elias  Ashmole,  with  other  bene- 
factors, presented  us  with  various  scarce  and 
valuable  volumes.  In  the  Museum  of  Harvey 
were  deposited  the  curiosities  of  the  College, 
and  here  also  were  affixed  honorary  tablets  to 
the  memory  of  those  who  had  deserved  well  of 
the  community.  The  generous  Harney  was 
not  forgotten,  and  his  kind  intervention 
in  support  of  the  declining  fortunes  of 
the  College  was  thus  recorded  in  marble. 

6  de  xatpos  oH-ug, 

Balduino  Hammo  Med.  Doctori,  Balduini  (in  Mos- 
corum  aula  Juvenili  aetate  Archiatri)  filio,  Socio  suo,  ac 
ante  annos  aliquot  opportunuo  imprimis  Benefactori, 
hoc  Marmor  (illius  animo  oblata  statua  acceptius) 
Dedicat. 

Societas  An.  mdclviii. 

"  The  Museum  of  Harvey,  besides  medical 
books,  contained  Treatises  on  Geometry, 
Geography,  Astronomy,  Music,  Optics,  Nat- 
indulges  in  a  vein  of  sarcasm;  as,  for  example,  when 
speaking  of  one  of  his  contemporaries,  he  describes  him 
as — 

"  Syphar    hominis ;    nee    facie   minus    quam    arte    Hip- 
pocraticus." 


MEAD.  125 

ural  History,  and  Travels,  and  was  under  the 
following  regulations: — It  was  to  be  open  on 
Fridays,  from  two  till  five  o'clock  in  the  sum- 
mer, but  only  till  four  in  the  winter  season; 
also  during  all  meetings  of  the  College  and 
whenever  else  the  Custos  being  at  leisure 
should  choose  to  be  present;  but  no  books 
were  allowed  to  be  taken  out.  The  old  li- 
brary room  was  henceforth  appropriated  to 
the  Lectures,  and  the  first  public  meeting  of 
the  College  (in  novo  Triclinio)  was 
held  in  March.  Here  also,  as  in  a  sort 
of  state  apartment,  it  was  the  custom  to  re- 
ceive distinguished  and  illustrious  visitors:  for 
it  was  not  uncommon  in  those  days  for  the 
highest  personages  in  the  kingdom  to  attend 
our  Lectures.  When  Charles  the  Second  con- 
descended to  be  present  at  the  anatomical 
preelections  of  Dr.  Ent,  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  Lecture,  the  royal  party  retiring  from  the 
Theatre,  was  received  in  the  Museum  of 
Harvey,  and  on  this  occasion  His  Majesty 
was  graciously  pleased  to  confer  the 
honour  of  knighthood  upon  the  lec- 
turer. 

"  This  event  took  place  the  year  before  the 


126  MEAD. 

fire  of  London,  which,  while  it  destroyed  al- 
most the  whole  of  the  City,  consumed  our  Col- 
lege, and  the  greatest  part  of  our  Library  *." 
The  mention  of  this  memorable  event  oc- 
casioned a  pause  in  the  conversation,  and  one 
of  our  guests,  not  of  the  profession,  but  who, 
like  all  persons  of  an  inquisitive  turn  of  mind, 
was  fond  of  medical  subjects,  begged  to  ask 
Dr.  Mead  a  question  connected  with  that  great 
catastrophe.  This  is  a  kind  of  curiosity  that 
has  often  struck  me  as  something  very  amus- 
ing; to  be  sure  there  can  be  no  considerations 

*  One  hundred  and  twelve  folio  books  were  saved  fromi 
the  flames.  About  ten  years  before  this  calamity,  the 
College  of  Physicians  had  been  enriched  by  the  will  of 
Sir  Theodore  Mayerne,  who  left  his  Library  to  them. 
This  prosperous  physician,  who  enjoyed  the  singular 
honour  of  having  been  physician  to  four  kings,  viz. 
Henry  IV.  of  France,  James  I.  Charles  I.  and  Charles 
II.  of  England,  died  very  rich.  It  is  said  he  left  be- 
hind him  £  10,000  more  than  RadclifFe.  He  was  a  man 
of  singular  address,  and  distinguished  for  his  knowledge 
of  chemistry  and  natural  philosophy.  The  famous 
enamel  painter  Petitot,  when  in  England,  was  introduced 
by  Mayerne  to  Charles  I.  and  was  indebted  also  to  him 
for  many  valuable  hints  as  to  the  principal  colours  to 
be  used  for  enamel,  and  the  best  means  of  vitrifying 
them. 


MEAD.  127 

more  interesting  to  all  mankind  than  those 
which  relate  to  the  various  conditions  of  health 
and  disease;  but  it  is  astonishing  to  see  the 
avidity  with  which  people  of  cultivated  under- 
standings listen  to  the  details  of  professional 
lore  (provided  they  be  not  couched  in  terms 
too  technical),  and  how  much  more  easily  they 
are  satisfied  with  explanations,  and  convinced 
by  specious  arguments,  than  the  v ere  adepti 
themselves. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  this  gentleman 
to  my  master,  "  for  interrupting  your  history 
of  the  College,  but  the  mention  of  the  great 
fire  of  London  unavoidably  suggests  somehow 
or  other  the  idea  of  the  plague,  from  the  visi- 
tations of  which  we  have  been  free  ever  since 
the  occurrence  of  that  dreadful  conflagration. 
How  do  you  connect,  Doctor,  the  fire  of  Lon- 
don with  the  disappearance  of  the  plague;  in 
short,  what  effect  has  the  one  had  upon  the 
other?  The  subject  of  the  plague  occupied 
your  pen  some  three  years  ago,  and  I  should 
like  to  hear  your  opinion  upon  this  matter." 

Dr.  Mead.  "  The  fire  began,  as  you 
know,  upon  the  2nd  of  September,  and  con- 


128  MEAD. 

sumed  about  one-fifth  of  the  town  of  London, 
burning  an  extent  of  about  two  miles 

1666.     .  .  ,  .  _. 

m  length,  and  one  in  breadth.  But 
it  was  the  wealthiest  and  the  best  part  of  the 
town  that  was  destroyed;  and  it  is  even  said, 
that  had  it  not  been  for  the  opposition  of  some 
tenacious  and  avaricious  men,  aldermen  par- 
ticularly, who  would  not  permit  their  houses 
to  be  blown  up,  in  order  to  make  a  wide  gap, 
the  conflagration  might  have  been  stopped  al- 
most at  its  first  breaking  out.  But  this  was 
thought  too  great  a  sacrifice,  and  the  devour- 
ing element  continued  its  ravages  uncon- 
trolled. A  strong  east  wind  drove  the  flames 
impetuously  forward;  the  sky  was  like  the  top 
of  a  burning  oven,  and  the  light  of  the  fire 
was  seen  for  forty  miles  round  about  for  many 
nights.  The  stones  of  St.  Paul's  are  repre- 
sented as  flying  like  granados,  and  the  very 
pavements  of  the  streets  glowing  with  fiery 
redness;  it  was  not  till  noon  on  the  third  day, 
nor  till  the  fire  had  threatened  to  cross  over 
towaids  the  residence  of  the  Court  itself  at 
Whitehall,  that  it  was  stopped,  coming  no 
farther  westward  than  the  Temple,  nor  to- 
wards the  north  than  the  entrance  of  Smith- 


MEAD.  129 

field.  Thus,  you  see,  it  spared  the  Borough, 
Wapping,  Smithfield,  and  some  other  of  the 
quarters  and  suburbs  of  the  city,  inhabited  by 
the  poorest  classes,  and  consequently  the 
abode  of  filth  and  wretchedness.  The  notion 
therefore  advanced  by  some  that  the  improve- 
ments in  the  rebuilding  of  the  metropolis  have 
been  the  cause  of  the  disappearance  of  the 
plague  is  evidently  unfounded.  Besides,  I 
may  mention  to  you,  that  Bristol,  the  only 
town  in  England,  except  London,  which  had 
formerly  much  foreign  trade,  though  it  has 
been  purified  by  no  fire,  has  nevertheless  re- 
mained equally  free  from  that  disease.  On 
the  other  hand,  dysentery  and  intermittents, 
two  diseases  which  we  all  look  upon  'as  aris- 
ing from  filth  and  moisture,  increased  after 
the  fire.  Take  my  word  for  it,  it  is  quaran- 
tine alone,  and  not  any  increased  cleanliness 
on  the  part  of  the  inhabitants,  that  has  kept 
out  the  plague." — Dr.  Mead  then  returned  to 
his  history  of  the  College,  and  mentioned  that 
after  the  fire,  on  application  being  made  to  the 
Judges  who  were  appointed  to  settle  the  dif- 
ferences which  unavoidably  arose  out  of  that 
great  national  calamity,  a  new  lease  was  ob- 


130 


MEAD. 


tained  from  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of 
St.  Paul's — the  College  undertaking 
to  rebuild  the  premises.  This  scheme  how- 
ever was  never  carried  into  effect;  the  lease 
was  resigned,  and  on  the  ground  where  once 
stood  our  College,  three  fair  houses  were 
erected,  which  are  now  the  seats  of  the  Resi- 

*  Old  College.  "Warwick  Lane. 


MEAD.  131 

dentiaries  of  St.  Paul's.  In  this  interval  the 
meetings  of  the  Fellows  were  generally  held 
at  the  house  of  the  President;  when  shortly- 
after  a  piece  of  ground  having  been  purchased 
in  Warwick  Lane,  our  present  College  was 
begun  to  be  built,  in  four  years  was  completed, 
and  was  opened,  as  it  would  appear, 

r  1674. 

without  any  particular  ceremony,  on 
the  25th  of  February,  under  the  presidency 
of  Sir  George  Ent,  the  physician,  of  whose 
visit  to  the  immortal  Harvey,  Dr.  Freind  gave 
us  a  short  time  ago  so  interesting  an  account. 
"  In  concluding  this  sketch  of  the  various 
fortunes  of  our  body,  I  beg  only  to  remind 
you,  that  according  to  the  custom  of  the  early 
ages  in  England,  Physicians  united  the  cleri- 
cal character  with  the  medical,  and  being  thus 
learned  in  Physic  and  Divinity,  were  not  un- 
frequently  called  in  to  administer  the  com- 
forts of  both  professions.  But  if,  in  more 
modern  times,  the  alliance  of  the  two  facul- 
ties has  ceased  to  exist  in  the  persons  of  their 
professors,  it  is  still  amusing  to  observe  the 
continuance  of  the  affinity  of  locality,  if  I  may 
so  term  it,  for  you  cannot  cross  from  the  house 
of  Linacre,  to  the  spot  where  our  present  Col- 


132  MEAD. 

lege  stands,  and  thence  to  the  site  of  our  sec- 
ond building,  without  being  struck  with  the 
sanctity  of  the  ground.  On  your  right  you 
leave  the  magnificent  structure  of  St.  Paul's, 
and  traversing  Creed  Lane,  Ave  Maria  Lane, 
Paternoster  Row,  you  finally  reach  Amen 
Corner.  All  these  places  are  within  a  stone's 
throw  of  one  another;  whether  the  spirit  of 
innovation,  and  the  change  of  fashion,  may  at 
any  future  period  overcome  the  genius  loci,  re- 
mains to  be  proved.  I  have  often  heard  it 
observed,  that  though  it  is  convenient  to  some 
of  us,  who  live  towards  the  east,  yet  upon  the 
whole,  it  is  a  pity  the  College  was  built  so  near 
Newgate  Prison,  and  in  so  obscure  a  hole;  a 
fault  in  placing  most  of  our  public  buildings 
and  churches  in  the  City,  which  is  to  be  attri- 
buted to  the  avarice  of  some  few  men,  and  to 
His  Majesty  Charles  the  Second  not  over- 
ruling it  when  it  was  in  his  power,  after  the 
dreadful  conflagration." 

The  library  of  Dr.  Mead  never  witnesseed 
a  more  brilliant  assembly  than  this;  at  least 
the  conversation  which  I  have  endeavoured 
to  relate  made  a  great  impression  upon  me. 


MEAD. 


133 


I  do  not  mean,  as  was  said  before,  to  dwell 
upon  the  details  of  the  private  practice  of 
Dr.  Mead;  for,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  have  long 
been  (to  use  one  of  our  new-fangled  French 
words)  rather  blase  on  the  topic  of  medical 
cases.  How,  indeed,  can  it  be  otherwise  with 
me,  who  have  seen  five  generations  of  physi- 
cians; and  must,  therefore,  have  infinitely 
more  experience  than  any  doctor  who  ever 
existed?  One  hundred  and  thirty  years  have 
elapsed  since  I  first  became  connected  with 
physic;  for  I  am  almost  coeval  with  the  Col- 

*  Interior  of  Mead's  Library;  from  an  engraving  in 
the  British  Museum. 


134  MEAD. 

lege  in  Warwick  Lane,  having  made  my  first 
appearance  fifteen  years  only  after  the  com- 
pletion of  that  building;  and  can  only  be  said 
to  have  completely  retired  from  the  bustle  of 
practice  within  the  last  two  or  three  years. 
With  the  usual  appearance  of  the  symptoms 
of  diseases,  the  ordinary  remedies  prescribed, 
and  the  common  topics  of  consolation  and  ad- 
vice, I  soon  became,  even  from  the  very  com- 
mencement of  my  career,  very  familiar;  it  was 
therefore  only  by  some  very  extraordinary 
case  indeed,  or  by  attending  some  very  re- 
markable patient,  that  I  felt  much  interested. 
Of  the  latter  description  was  the  illness  of 
that  great  and  good  man  Sir  Isaac  Newton. 
In  1726,  early  in  the  month  of  March,  Mr. 
Conduitt  called  upon  my  master,  and  carried 
him,  together  with  Mr.  Cheselden  *,  to  Ken- 

*  This  eminent  surgeon  and  anatomist  was  chosen 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  at  the  early  age  of  twenty- 
three  years;  and  soon  justified  their  choice  by  a  variety 
of  curious  and  useful  communications.  He  was  chief 
surgeon  of  St.  Thomas's  Hospital;  was  also  consulting 
surgeon  of  St.  George's  Hospital  and  the  Westminster 
Infirmary,  and  had  the  honour  of  being  appointed  prin- 
cipal surgeon  to  Queen  Caroline,  by  whom  he  was  highly 
esteemed.     He  was  much  distinguished  for  his  skill  as  a 


MEAD.  135 

sington,  where  Sir  Isaac  had  shortly  before 
taken  a  house  for  the  benefit  of  his  health. 

It  was  my  lot  often  to  be  in  company  with 
the  eminent  surgeon  whose  name  I  have  now 
mentioned;  for  the  public  seemed  universally 
to  have  adopted  the  sentiment  of  the  popular 
poet  of  the  day: 

"  I'll  try  what  Mead  and  Cheselden  advise." 

Pope. 

Consequently,  in  most  complicated  cases  of 
importance,  requiring  the  united  skill  and  at- 

lithotomist,  and  added  also  greatly  to  his  reputation  by 
couching  a  lad  of  nearly  fourteen  years  of  age,  who  was 
either  born  blind,  or  had  lost  his  sight  so  early  as  to  have 
no  recollection  of  ever  having  seen.  The  observations 
made  by  the  patient,  after  obtaining  the  blessing  of  sight, 
are  singularly  curious,  and  have  been  much  reasoned  upon 
by  several  writers  on  vision.  Surgery  is  much  indebted 
to  Cheselden  for  the  simplicity  which  he  introduced  into 
it.  In  his  own  practice  he  was  guided  by  consummate 
skill,  was  perfectly  master  of  his  hand,  fruitful  in  re- 
sources, prepared  for  all  events,  operating  with  remark- 
able dexterity  and  coolness.  He  was,  in  the  strict  sense 
of  the  term,  a  great  surgeon ;  and,  being  a  man  of  singular 
candour  and  humanity,  and  fond  of  the  polite  arts,  was 
honoured  by  the  friendship  and  acquaintance  of  men  of 
genius  and  taste. 


136  MEAD. 

tendance  of  a  physician  and  surgeon,  these 
two  celebrated  practitioners  were  called  in  to 
consultation. 

On  our  first  interview,  it  was  pronounced 
that  the  illness  of  Sir  Isaac  arose  from  stone 
in  the  bladder,  and  no  hopes  were  given  of  his 
recovery;  and  yet,  to  look  upon  the  great 
philosopher,  though  now  in  his  eighty-fifth 
year,  he  had  the  bloom  and  colour  of  a  young 
man,  had  never  worn  spectacles,  nor  lost  more 
than  one  tooth  during  his  whole  life.  Besides 
being  blessed  with  a  very  happy  and  vigorous 
constitution,  he  had  been  very  temperate  in 
his  diet,  though  we  did  not  learn  that  he  had 
ever  observed  any  regimen.  He  was  of  mid- 
dle stature,  and  at  this  time  plump  in  his  per- 
son; had  a  very  lively  and  piercing  eye,  a 
comely  and  gracious  aspect,  and  a  fine  head 
of  hair,  as  white  as  silver,  without  any  bald- 
ness, and  when  his  peruke  was  off,  he  had  truly 
a  most  venerable  appearance.  On  inquiry  we 
found,  that  for  some  years  before  his  present 
illness,  he  had  suffered  so  much  from  the  same 
disorder,  that  he  had  put  down  his  chariot,  and 
had  gone  out  always  in  a  chair;  had  left  off 
dining  abroad,  or  with  much  company  at  home. 


MEAD.  137 

He  ate  little  flesh;  lived  chiefly  upon  broth, 
vegetables,  and  fruit,  of  which  latter  he  always 
partook  very  heartily.  Notwithstanding  his 
present  infirmities  had  been  gradually  in- 
creasing upon  him,  nothing  could  induce  him 
to  absent  himself  entirely  from  town,  and  he 
had  continued  to  go  occasionally  to  the  Mint, 
although  his  nephew  had  for  the  last  year 
transacted  the  business  there  for  him.  It  ap- 
peared that  on  the  last  day  of  the  preceding 
month  he  had  gone  to  town,  in  order  to  be 
present  at  a  meeting  of  the  Royal  Society:  on 
the  next  day  Mr.  Conduitt  told  us  that  he 
had  seen  him,  and  thought  he  had  not  observed 
him  in  better  health  for  many  years;  that  Sir 
Isaac  was  sensible  of  it  himself,  for  that  he 
had  told  him,  smiling,  that  he  had  slept  the 
Sunday  before,  from  eleven  at  night  to  eight 
in  the  morning,  without  waking;  but  that  the 
great  fatigue  he  had  endured  in  going  to  the 
Society,  in  making  and  receiving  visits,  had 
brought  on  his  old  complaint  violently  upon 
him.  He  had  returned  to  Kensington  on  the 
Saturday  following.  This  was  the  statement 
we  received ;  and  we  found  him  suffering  great 
pain.     But  though  the  drops  of  sweat  ran 


138  MEAD. 

down  from  his  face  with  anguish,  he  never 
complained,  or  cried  out,  or  showed  the  least 
signs  of  peevishness  or  impatience.  On  the 
contrary,  during  the  short  intervals  between 
these  violent  fits  of  torture,  he  smiled,  and 
talked  with  my  master  with  his  usual  cheer- 
fulness. On  Wednesday,  the  fifteenth  of 
March,  he  seemed  a  little  better;  and  some 
faint  hopes  were  entertained  of  his  recovery. 
On  Saturday,  the  eighteenth,  he  read  the 
newspapers,  and  held  a  pretty  long  discourse 
with  Dr.  Mead,  and  had  all  his  senses  perfect ; 
but  at  six  o'clock  on  that  evening  he  became 
insensible,  and  remained  so  during  the  whole 
of  Sunday;  and  died  on  Monday,  the 
twentieth,  between  one  and  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning. 

To  find  a  successor  worthy  of  filling  the 
chair  of  science,  which  Sir  Isaac  Newton  had 
occupied  for  twenty-four  years,  was  impos- 
sible; nor  is  it  at  any  time  an  easy  matter  to 
select  one  able  to  perform  all  the  duties  of 
that  distinguished  station,  and  to  fulfil  the  ex- 
pectations and  satisfy  the  claims  of  the  pub- 
lic. Even  to  draw  the  beau  ideal  of  such  a 
one  would  be  difficult.     Perhaps  he  should  be 


MEAD.  139 

a  man  of  literary  and  scientific  attainments, 
and  who,  though  not  a  labourer  in  the  field  of 
science  himself,  is  so  well  acquainted  with  the 
history  and  progress  of  natural  knowledge,  as 
to  be  capable  of  judging  of  the  value  and  im- 
portance of  the  contributions  of  others.  Pos- 
sessed of  discrimination  and  tact  in  the  selec- 
tion of  a  council,  which  would  be  candid 
enough  to  aid  him  in  the  difficult  task  of  ap- 
preciating the  merit  of  others,  he  should  him- 
self be  a  man  of  fortune  and  character  suffi- 
cient to  be  above  the  temptation  of  making  his 
high  office  subservient  to  the  purposes  of  pri- 
vate advancement,  or  the  gratification  of  self- 
ish ambition.  To  these  solid  advantages,  he 
should  certainly  add  such  an  acquaintance  with 
at  least  one  foreign  language,  as  to  be  able  in 
a  becoming  manner  to  do  the  honours  of  sci- 
ence to  the  distinguished  strangers  who,  in 
their  visits  to  this  country,  are  likely  to  be 
recommended  to  his  care.  To  find  an  indi- 
vidual uniting  in  his  own  person  all  these  quali- 
ties is  difficult,  perhaps  impossible;  but  it  may 
be  said,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that 
the  study  of  medicine  is  likely  to  have  be- 
stowed a  greater  number  of  these  attainments, 


140  MEAD. 

than  the  discipline  to  which  the  mind  is  sub- 
ject in  the  pursuit  of  any  other  profession. 
Among  the  very  founders  of  the  Royal  So- 
ciety, we  find  the  names  of  many  distinguished 
Physicians,  as  Ent,  Glisson,  Merret,  Willis, 
Croone,  Needham,  Whistler;  but  the  honour 
was  reserved  for  Sir  Hans  Sloane  to  be  the 
first  Medical  President.  He  had  been  chosen 
its  Secretary,  in  1693,  when  he  revived  the 
publication  of  the  Transactions,  which  had 
been  for  some  years  suspended:  the  first  act 
of  his  Presidency  was  to  make  a  present  of 
100  guineas  to  the  Society,  and  of  a  bust  of 
their  founder,  Charles  II.  He  continued  in 
that  office  fourteen  years,  and  did  not  resign 
the  chair  till  the  age  of  eighty:  how  fit  he  was 
to  preside  over  the  interests  of  science  must 
appear  from  what  has  already  been  said  of 
him:  and  if  I  might  be  allowed  to  anticipate 
some  fifty  years,  and  allude  to  another  Phy- 
sician who  was  raised  to  the  same  dignity, 
there  will  be  no  reason  to  blush  for  the  repu- 
tation of  physic. 

Sir  John  Pringle  was  elected  President  of 
the  Royal  Society  in  1772;  in  which  office  he 
continued  only  six  years ;  but  if  the  volumes  of 


MEAD. 


141 


Statue    of    Sir    Hans    Sloane,    by    Rysbrach,    in   the 
Apothecaries'  Garden,  Chelsea. 


142  MEAD. 

Transactions,  published  during  that  time,  be 
examined,  they  will  be  found  to  contain  many- 
memorable  papers:  among  others,  Dr.  Maske- 
lyne's  experiments  at  Schehallien,  with  Dr. 
Hutton's  deductions  from  them — The  experi- 
ments of  Sir  G.  Shuckburgh  Evelyn  and  of 
General  Roy  to  establish  correct  formulas  for 
measuring  heights  by  the  barometer — The  re- 
port of  the  Committee  to  determine  the 
proper  method  of  graduating  thermometers — 
Experiments  to  ascertain  the  freezing  point 
of  mercury.  Pringle  was  the  first  President 
who  made  a  set  speech  on  the  delivery  of  the 
Copley  Medals,  and  his  discourses,  which  were 
made  on  rather  celebrated  occasions,  embrace 
many  topics  of  interest,  and  show  his  acquaint- 
ance with  the  history  of  philosophy.  They 
were  six  in  number,  the  four  first  of  which 
were, 

To  Priestley,  for  his  Paper  on  different 
kinds  of  Air. 

To  Walsh,  for  his  Experiments  on  Elec- 
tricity. 

To  Maskelyne,  for  his  Observations  on 
Gravitation. 

To   Captain   Cook,   for  his  Paper  on  the 


MEAD.  143 

Prevention  of  Scurvy  amongst  his  Crew,  dur- 
ing his  voyage  round  the  world. 

But  I  beg  pardon  for  this  digression,  and 
must  return  to  my  master.  On  the  accession 
of  George  the  Second,  Dr.  Mead  was  made 
one  of  the  royal  physicians,  and  was  for  many 
years  engaged  in  the  constant  hurry  of  an  ex- 
tensive and  successful  practice.  By  his  sin- 
gular humanity  and  goodness  of  heart  he  con- 
quered even  envy  itself;  and  it  was  acknowl- 
edged by  all  who  knew  him,  that  few  princes 
have  shown  themselves  equally  generous  and 
liberal  in  promoting  science,  and  encouraging 
learned  men.  He  threw  open  his  gallery  in 
the  morning  for  the  benefit  of  students  in 
painting  and  sculpture;  and  was  in  the  habit 
of  even  lending  the  best  of  his  pictures  to 
artists  to  copy.  If  any  literary  work  was 
going  on,  he  contributed  all  in  his  power  to 
its  perfection.  For  instance,  he  accommo- 
dated the  learned  Dr.  Zachary  Grey  with  the 
loan  of  his  original  picture  of  Butler,  the  au- 
thor of  Hudibras,  (by  Mr.  Soest,  a  famous 
Dutch  painter),  for  the  use  of  the  engraver. 
He  constantly  kept  in  his  pay  a  number  of 
artists  and  scholars,  and  scarcely  a  curious  un- 


144  MEAD. 

dertaking  appeared  during  the  period  of  his 
success,  that  did  not  find  a  patron  in  Mead. 

Knowing  that  Mr.  Carte  (who  was  accused 
of  high  treason,  and  for  whose  apprehension 
a  thousand  pounds  had  been  offered)  had  fled 
to  Paris,  resided  there  under  the  borrowed 
name  of  Phillips,  and  was  employed  in  col- 
lecting materials  for  an  English  translation 
of  Thuanus,  my  master  perceived  that  his  plan 
might  be  enlarged;  and  satisfying  Mr.  Carte 
for  the  pains  he  had  already  taken  (pretio 
haud  eociguo,  as  our  librarian  Mr.  Hocker 
used  to  say),  he  employed  Mr.  Buckley  to 
complete  the  work.  In  the  first  French  edi- 
tion, passages  offensive  to  the  nobility  of  that 
nation  had  been  omitted;  but  these  were  now 
restored,  and  a  splendid  and  complete  edition 
printed  at  Mead's  expense. 

He  was  also  one  of  the  first  subscribers  to 
the  Foundling  Hospital;  that  noble  institu- 
tion, which  will  for  ever  endear  the  name  of 
Captain  Coram  to  this  country.  Guy,  the 
wealthy  citizen,  was  also  persuaded  by  my 
master  to  lay  out  his  immense  fortune  in  build- 
ing that  hospital  in  the  Borough  which  bears 
his  name. 


MEAD.  145 

With  respect  to  science,  no  discovery  was 
made  in  which  he  did  not  take  a  lively  interest. 
In  the  year  1746,  the  experiments  tending  to 
illustrate  the  nature  and  properties  of  elec- 
tricity were  made  by  Mr.  afterwards  Sir  Wil- 
liam Watson;  and  he  was  present  on  a  re- 
markable occasion,  to  witness  the  effects  of 
the  Leyden  phial,  then  newly  invented.  It 
was  in  the  house  of  the  ingenious  philosopher 
whose  name  has  just  been  mentioned,  in  Al- 
dersgate  Street;  and  here,  amongst  a  large 
concourse  of  people,  I  saw  the  Duke  of  Cum- 
berland, recently  returned  from  Scotland, 
take  the  shock  with  the  point  of  the  sword 
with  which  he  had  fought  the  battle  of  Cul- 
loden. 

Two  or  three  years  after  this  I  witnessed 
the  famous  experiments  made  on  the  Thames 
and  at  Shooter's-hill,  in  the  presence  of  the 
President  and  several  of  the  Fellows  of  the 
Royal  Society;  in  one  of  which  the  electrical 
circuit  was  made  to  extend  four  miles,  and 
the  result  of  the  experiment  was,  that  the 
velocity  of  electricity  seemed  to  be  instan- 
taneous. 

The  hospitality  of  Mead  was  unbounded; 


146  MEAD. 

and  consequently  his  housekeeping  expenses 
were  very  great:  for,  not  content  with  the  re- 
ception of  his  own  friends  and  acquaintances, 
he  kept  also  a  very  handsome  second  table,  to 
which  persons  of  inferior  quality  were  invited. 
The  consequence  of  this  was,  that  notwith- 
standing the  considerable  gains  derived  from 
his  profession  (for  several  years  he  made  be- 
tween £5000  and  £6000,  and  during  one  year 
he  received  £7000),  he  did  not  die  so  rich  as 
might  have  been  expected.  The  total  amount 
left  at  his  death,  including  the  receipts  of  the 
sale  of  his  library,  pictures,  statues,  &c. 
(which  were  between  £15,000  and  £16,000) 
was  about  £50,000:  but  this  sum  was  ma- 
terially diminished  by  the  payment  of  his 
debts. 

With  respect  to  his  manner  of  living,  when 
not  engaged  at  home,  he  generally  spent  his 
evenings  at  Batson's  Coffee-House;  and  in 
the  forenoons,  apothecaries  used  to  come  to 
him,  at  Tom's,  near  Covent  Garden,  with 
written  or  verbal  reports  of  cases,  for  which 
he  prescribed  without  seeing  the  patient,  and 
took  half -guinea  fees. 

The  last  work  he  published,  which  was  in 


MEAD.  147 

1751,  was  entitled  Medical  Precepts  and  Cau- 
tions; in  which,  with  great  candour  and  sim- 
plicity, he  enumerated  all  the  discoveries  that 
long  practice  and  experience  had  opened  to 
him  concerning  diseases  and  their  cures;  and 
concluded  with  many  salutary  directions  for 
preserving  the  body  and  mind  perfect  and 
entire  to  a  good  old  age.  This  he  attained 
himself;  and  preserved  till  within  three  years 
of  his  death  his  intellectual  powers  in  a  state 
of  perfection.  Then  he  became  very  corpu- 
lent, and  his  faculties  were  visibly  impaired. 
But  his  kindness  of  heart  never  deserted  him. 
I  shall  never  forget  a  piece  of  insolence  on 
the  part  of  one  of  his  servants,  who  doubtless 
presumed  on  his  master's  known  good  nature 
and  forgiving  disposition.  Dr.  Watson  was 
sitting  with  Mead  in  his  library,  when  the 
latter  wishing  to  read  something,  looked  about 
for  his  spectacles,  for  his  eyesight  had  become 
very  bad;  and  not  readily  finding  them,  asked 
his  servant  for  them:  upon  which  the  man  gave 
them  to  him  with  great  rudeness,  saying  at 
the  time,  "  You  are  always  losing  your  things." 
How  I  longed  to  have  knocked  the  fellow 
down  for  his  brutality! 


148  MEAD. 

Dr.  Mead  died  on  the  16th  of  February, 
1754,  in  his  eighty-first  year,  and  was  buried 
in  the  Temple  Church. 

After  his  death,  it  was  said  of  him,  that  of 
all  physicians  who  had  ever  flourished,  he 
gained  the  most,  spent  the  most,  and  enjoyed 
the  highest  fame  during  his  lifetime,  not  only 
in  his  own  but  in  foreign  countries. 


ASKEW. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Dr.  Askew  had  been  in  his  youth  a  great 
traveller;  at  least  he  was  so  considered  in 
those  days,  for  he  had  been  absent  from  Eng- 
land three  years,  and  had,  during  that  time, 
visited  Hungary,  and  resided  at  Athens  and 
Constantinople.  To  the  latter  place  he  had 
accompanied  Sir  James  Porter,  then  ambassa- 
dor to  the  Porte.  In  consequence  of  these 
peregrinations,  he  was  regarded  on  his  return 
to  his  native  country  as  no  ordinary  person, 


150  ASKEW. 

but  one  who  had  enjoyed  most  unusual  ad- 
vantages, and  very  rare  opportunities  of  ac- 
quiring knowledge.  This  will  perhaps  hardly 
be  credited  at  the  present  moment,  when  it  is 
scarcely  possible  to  turn  the  comer  of  a  street 
without  meeting  an  Englishman  recently  ar- 
rived, either  from  the  borders  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  the  cataracts  of  the  Nile,  or  the  ruins  of 
Palmyra.  Interviews  with  the  Beys  and 
Pashas  of  the  empire  of  Mahomet  have  now-a- 
days  succeeded  to  the  usual  presentations  at 
the  courts  of  the  Continent;  and  the  camel, 
the  firman,  and  the  Tartar,  have  been  sub- 
stituted for  the  ordinary  facilities  of  the  poste, 
the  passports,  and  couriers  of  the  beaten  roads 
of  civilized  Europe.  Nor  is  this  spirit  of  en- 
terprise confined  to  the  gentlemen  of  Eng- 
land, but  pervades  alike  the  softer  sex.  One 
lady  of  rank  and  great  talent  has  taken  up 
her  permanent  abode  at  the  convent  of  Mar 
Elias,  on  Mount  Lebanon;  another  has  ac- 
companied her  husband  and  family  of  young 
children,  nurse-maids  and  all,  across  the  dreary 
desert,  from  Cairo  to  Jerusalem;  while  a  third, 
of  still  more  adventurous  spirit,  has  climbed, 
by  the  help  of  a  ladder  of  ropes,  to  the  sum- 


ASKEW.  151 

mit  of  Pompey's  pillar.  A  few  years  only 
have  elapsed  since  an  English  lady  of  fashion 
was  confined  at  Athens,  gave  to  her  infant  son 
the  name  of  Atticus,  and,  when  sufficiently  re- 
covered, resumed  with  her  husband  her  jour- 
ney through  the  enchanting  scenery  of  Greece ; 
the  child  occupying  one  side  of  a  pair  of  pan- 
niers, while  a  favourite  dog  reposed  on  the 
other.  But  these  prodigies  were  reserved  for 
modern  days. 

One  of  the  immediate  results  of  the  travels 
of  Dr.  Askew  was  the  excellent  opportunity 
it  afforded  him  of  gratifying  the  favourite  pur- 
suit for  which  he  was  early  distinguished,  of 
collecting  books,  manuscripts,  and  inscrip- 
tions. At  Paris,  on  his  way  home  from  his 
eastern  expedition,  he  laid  the  foundation  of 
his  library,  which  became  afterwards  so  cele- 
brated: for,  in  the  love  of  books,  he  resem- 
bled Dr.  Mead,  for  whom  he  entertained  a 
sort  of  filial  veneration,  and  to  whom  he  had, 
when  a  very  young  man,  and  while  studying 
physic  at  the  university  of  Leyden,  dedicated 
his  specimen  of  an  edition  of  JEschylus.  At 
the  sale  of  my  late  master's  library,  he  had 
been   one   of  the  most   distinguished   of  the 


152 


ASKEW. 


emptores  literarii,  and,  even  during  his  life- 
time, had  purchased  all  his  Greek  manu- 
scripts, for  which  he  paid  the  sum  of  five  hun- 
dred pounds. 

Not  content  with  possessing  himself  as  much 
as  possible  of  his  books,  statues,  and  other 
curiosities,  he  did  all  he  could  to  preserve  the 
lineaments,    and   perpetuate   the   memory   of 

*  Now  in  the  Censor's  Room  of  the  College. 


ASKEW.  153 

the  person  of  his  deceased  friend.  For  this 
purpose  he  procured  Roubiliac  to  make  a  bust 
of  him,  which  he  presented  to  the  College  of 
Physicians. 

No  one  could  be  better  acquainted  with  the 
real  features  of  Dr.  Mead  than  myself;  and 
I  pronounce  this  bust  of  him  to  be  so  like, 
that,  whenever  it  is  before  me,  it  suggests  the 
strongest  idea  of  the  original;  and,  indeed, 
when  the  marble  came  home,  Dr.  Askew  was 
so  highly  pleased  with  its  execution,  that 
though  he  had  previously  agreed  with  the 
sculptor  for  £50,  he  offered  him  £100  as  the 
reward  of  his  successful  talent;  when,  to  his 
astonishment,  the  sordid  Frenchman  exclaimed 
it  was  not  enough,  and  actually  sent  in  a  bill 
for  £108.  2s.\  The  demand,  even  to  the  odd 
shillings,  was  paid,  and  Dr.  Askew  enclosed 
the  receipt  to  Hogarth,  to  produce  at  the  next 
meeting  of  artists. 

My  present  master  never  practised  any 
where  but  in  London:  but  his  father,  Dr. 
Adam  Askew,  was  a  celebrated  physician  at 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  where  he  enjoyed  a 
great  provincial  reputation,  and  lived  to  a 
good  old  age.     With  reference  to  him,  a  con- 


154  ASKEW. 

versation  which  occurred  at  a  literary  party  in 
the  metropolis  excited  a  laugh  at  the  time,  and 
was  to  the  following  effect:  Some  one  of  the 
company  having  remarked  that  my  master, 
Dr.  Askew,  looked  very  ill — but  indeed,  from 
his  advanced  age  (whereas  he  was  not  then 
fifty)  he  could  not  be  expected  to  last  a  long 
time — "Possibly  not,"  replied  a  gentleman 
with  a  smile,  "  but  I  dined  with  his  father 
about  a  fortnight  since  at  Newcastle,  and  he 
appeared  to  be  in  perfect  health." 

From  the  Library  of  Dr.  Mead,  in  Ormond 
Street,  I  had  removed  but  a  short  distance, 
and  could  scarcely  be  said  to  be  sensible  of 
any  change  in  the  scholastic  air  of  my  present 
abode. 

Our  house  in  Queen  Square  was  crammed 
full  of  books.  We  could  dispense  with  no 
more.  Our  passages  were  full;  even  our  very 
garrets  overflowed;  and  the  wags  of  the  day 
used  to  say,  that  the  half  of  the  square  itself 
would  have  done  so,  before  the  book  appetite 
of  Dr.  Askew  would  have  been  satiated. 

We  saw  a  great  deal  of  company,  attracted 
as  well  by  the  abundant  luxuries  with  which 
my  master's  table  was  furnished,  as  by  the 


ASKEW.  155 

classical  conversations  and  learned  accounts 
of  curiosities  which  he  had  brought  with  him 
from  his  very  interesting  travels  in  Greece. — 
Among  the  literary  people  who  were  most  fre- 
quently there,  I  may  mention  Archbishop 
Markham,  Sir  William  Jones,  Dr.  Farmer, 
Demosthenes  Taylor,  and  Dr.  Parr.  By  these 
distinguished  persons  Dr.  Askew  was  consid- 
ered as  a  scholar  of  refined  taste,  sound  knowl- 
edge, and  indefatigable  research  into  every 
thing  connected  with  Grecian  and  Roman 
learning.  Indeed,  from  his  youth  upwards, 
he  had  been  distinguished  for  his  love  of  let- 
ters, and  had  received  the  early  part  of  his 
education  under  Richard  Dawes  the  critic. 
His  father,  on  presenting  him  to  the  school- 
master, marked  those  parts  of  his  back  which 
Dawes,  who  was  celebrated  for  his  unsparing 
use  of  the  birch,  might  scourge  at  his  pleasure, 
excepting  only  his  head  from  this  discipline; 
and  my  master  was  wont  to  relate  with  some 
humour,  the  terror  with  which  he  surveyed  for 
the  first  time  this  redoubted  pedagogue.  As 
a  collector  of  books  Dr.  Askew  was  the  first 
who  brought  bibliomania  into  fashion;  and  no 
one  exhibited  his  various  treasures  better  than 


156  ASKEW. 

himself.  The  eager  delight  with  which  he 
produced  his  rare  editions,  his  large-paper 
copies,  his  glistering  gems  and  covetable 
tomes,  would  have  raised  him  high  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  Roxburgh  Club.  Some,  in- 
deed, were  of  such  great  rarity,  that  he  would 
not  suffer  them  to  be  touched,  but  would  show 
them  to  his  visitors  through  the  glass  cases  of 
the  cabinets  of  his  Library,  or,  standing  on  a 
ladder,  would  himself  read  aloud  different  por- 
tions of  these  inestimable  volumes  *.  As 
specimens  of  his  wealth  in  this  line,  I  may 
enumerate — 

His  Platonis  Opera,  apud  Aldum,  2  vol.  fol. 
1513,  Edit  Prin.  on  spotless  vellum;  the  ink 
of  which  was  of  the  finest  lustre,  and  the  whole 
typographical  arrangement  a  master-piece  of 
printing. 

His  Boccacio,  la  Teseide,  Ferar.  1475, 
Prima  Edizione,  which  was  then  considered  an 
unique  copy,  and  was  sold  after  his  death  for 
£85.  What  it  would  have  fetched  under  the 
sceptre  of  Mr.  Evans  cannot  even  be  con- 
jectured! 

*  His  Micyllus  de  Re  Metrica  was  one  which  he  prized 
highly. 


ASKEW.  157 

His  Ciceronis  Opera  omnia,  Oliveti,  9  vol. 
quarto,  1740;  charta  maxima. 

These  were  amongst  many  others  which  I 
cannot  now  specify,  but  which  were  then  re- 
garded as  rare,  magnificent,  giants,  imperial, 
atlas,  elephant,  princes  of  editions!! 

As  no  one  had  enjoyed  greater  opportuni- 
ties, possessed  more  sufficient  means  to  gratify 
his  taste,  or  had  an  acuter  descrimination,  the 
Bibliotheca  Askeviana  was  well  known  to  all, 
both  at  home  and  abroad,  who  were  in  the 
least  eminent  for  bibliographical  research. 
And  as  he  had  expressed  a  wish  that  his  books 
might  be  unreservedly  submitted  to  sale  after 
his  decease,  the  public  became  ultimately  bene- 
fited by  his  pursuits,  and  many  a  collection 
was  afterwards  enriched  by  an  Exemplar 
Askevianum.  The  sale  (apud  S.  Baker  et 
G.  Leigh,  in  vico  dicto  York  Street,  Covent 
Garden,  Februar.  1775)  occupied  twenty 
days. 

But  the  library  of  my  present  master  was 
not,  as  I  have  said  before,  the  only  attraction 
which  our  house  afforded:  to  many  of  his 
guests,  the  recital  of  his  adventures  during 
his  travels  abroad  was  a  constant  source  of 


158 


ASKEW. 


*  This  model  is  about  12  inches  high,  is  of  unbaked 
potters'  clay,  and  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Sir  Lucas 
Pepys,  Bart.,  whose  lady  is  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Askew. 


ASKEW.  159 

amusement;  and  we  saw  most  foreigners  who 
came  to  London.  Dr.  Askew  had  been  in  the 
East,  and  so  vague  and  magnificent  was  the 
opinion  formed  at  that  time  of  an  oriental 
traveller,  that  I  verily  believe  he  was  supposed 
to  have  been  able  to  speak  all  the  languages  of 
that  quarter  of  the  globe.  It  was  from  some 
such  notion  as  this  that  they  brought  to  him  a 
Chinese,  by  name  Chequa,  who  (however  im- 
perfect their  oral  communication  might  be) 
seemed  so  grateful  for  the  attention  and  kind- 
ness he  had  received,  that  he  requested  before 
his  departure  from  England  to  be  permitted  to 
make  a  model  of  the  Doctor  in  his  robes; 
which  being  readily  granted,  we  sat  to  the 
stranger:  and  this  is  the  specimen  of  his  in- 
genuity, rendered  with  Chinese  fidelity. 

From  what  has  been  said  of  the  pursuits  of 
Dr.  Askew,  it  may  be  inferred  that  much  of 
his  time  was  employed  in  his  library,  and  dedi- 
cated to  the  conversation  of  literary  men;  but 
he  was  not  entirely  inattentive  to  professional 
engagements,  and  I  took  of  course  no  small  in- 
terest in  watching  the  progress  of  medicine, 
and  becoming  acquainted  with  the  rising  and 
eminent    physicians    of    the    day.     Amongst 


160  ASKEW. 

others,  there  was  one  who  had  settled  in  Lon- 
don two  years  before  Dr.  Askew,  and  who 
rapidly  got  into  great  business,  which  he  fol- 
lowed with  unremitting  attention  above  thirty 
years,  for  he  lived  many  years  after  the  death 
of  the  former.  Previous  to  his  coming  to 
town,  Dr.  Heberden  had  been  established  at 
Cambridge,  where  he  gave  Lectures  on  the 
Materia  Medica  for  about  ten  years:  among 
his  pupils  were  students  who  afterwards 
greatly  distinguished  themselves,  as  Sir 
George  Baker,  Dr.  Gisborne,  and  Dr.  Glynn; 
the  latter  of  whom  was  a  character  long  known 
and  valued  in  Cambridge,  both  for  his  virtues 
and  his  eccentricities.  Of  his  method  of  lec- 
turing, a  specimen  is  preserved  in  his  Essay 
on  Mithridatium  and  Theriaca,  published  in 
1745,  three  years  before  he  quitted  the 
university.  Treating  of  this  famous  medi- 
cine, which  had  recently  been  expunged  from 
our  public  dispensatory,  Dr.  Heberden  proves, 
that  the  only  poisons  known  to  the  ancients 
were  hemlock,  monk's-hood,  and  those  of 
venomous  beasts;  and  that  to  these  few  they 
knew  of  no  antidotes.  That  the  farrago  called 
after  the  celebrated  King  of  Pontus,  which, 


ASKEW.  161 

in  the  time  of  Celsus,  consisted  of  thirty-eight 
simples,  had  changed  its  composition  every 
hundred  years,  and  that  therefore  what  had 
been  for  so  many  ages  called  Mithridatium, 
was  quite  different  from  the  true  medicine 
found  in  the  cabinet  of  that  Prince.  This,  he 
states,  was  a  very  trivial  one,  composed  of 
twenty  leaves  of  rue,  one  grain  of  salt,  two 
nuts,  and  two  dried  figs;  and  he  infers  that, 
even  supposing  Mithridates  had  ever  used  the 
compound  (which  is  doubtful),  his  not  being 
able  to  despatch  himself  was  less  owing  to  the 
strength  of  his  antidote  than  to  the  weakness 
of  his  poison.  The  first  accounts  of  subtle 
poisons  that  might  be  concealed  under  the 
stone  of  a  seal  or  ring,  as  well  as  the,  stories  of 
poisons  by  vapours  arising  from  perfumed 
gloves  and  letters,  he  pronounces  to  be  evi- 
dently the  idle  inventions  of  ignorance  and 
superstition. 

The  learning  and  good  sense  which  char- 
acterize the  whole  of  this  little  Essay,  will 
enable  the  reader  to  form  a  judgment  of  the 
manner  in  which  he  conveyed  instruction  to  his 
class,  and  of  the  loss  which  the  university  must 
have  suffered  by  his  removal;  but  he  would 


162  ASKEW. 

probably  have  settled  in  London  earlier  than 
he  actually  did,  had  the  encouragement  held 
out  to  him,  to  come  to  the  metropolis,  not 
been  most  unfairly  kept  from  his  knowledge. 
The  circumstances  attending  this  want  of  good 
faith  will  be  best  explained  by  the  following 
letter  from  Sir  Edward  Hulse  to  Dr.  Heber- 
den,  then  residing  at  Cambridge,  and  Dr. 
H.'s  reply: — 

"  Baldwyn,  July  14,  1748. 
"  Dear  Sir, 
"  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  embrace  any  op- 
portunity  of   showing  you  how   sincerely   I 
wish  your  welfare;  and  I  assure  you,  when 

I  desired  to  dispose  you  to  come  to 

London,  I  did  unfeignedly  mean  to  serve  you, 
knowing  you  to  be  capable  of  answering  any 
recommendation  your  friends  could  give  you. 
then  sent  me  word,  you  had  no  in- 
clination to  leave  the  University.  What  shall 
I   say  to  you  now?     Even  what   I   said  to 

,  who  at  the  persuasion  of  his  friends 

was  afterwards  inclined  to  come  himself,  and 
try  his  fortune  here,  viz.  That  when  I  left 
London  I  had,  as  far  as  I  could,  recommended 


ASKEW.  163 

Dr.  Shaw  to  my  business:  so  it  stands  now, 
except  that  Dr.  Shaw  has  too  much  business, 
more  than  he  can  possibly  do,  upon  which  ac- 
count I  have  endeavoured  to  assist  Dr.  Taylor, 
who  came  from  Newark.  He  is  greatly  sup- 
ported by  some  noble  families,  and  has  already 
wonderfully  succeeded.  I  have  set  before 
you  the  difficulties  that  I  lie  under,  of  recom- 
mending any  body  at  present.  I  don't  in- 
tend to  flatter  you,  when  I  say,  I  make  no 
doubt  you  will  be  able  to  support  yourself  by 
your  own  merit ;  and  as  far  as  shall  be  consist- 
ent with  honour,  jointly  with  my  power,  which 
is  now  very  little,  you  may  depend  upon  the 
friendship  of, 

"Sir, 
"  Your  most  affectionate 

"  humble  servant, 
"E.  Htjlse. 

"  P.S. — Since  the  writing  of  this,  I  am  cer- 
tainly informed  that  Dr.  Shaw  is  gone  over 
to  Hanover  with  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle. 
I  believe  you  never  will  have  a  fairer  oppor- 
tunity of  settling  in  this  town  than  the  pres- 
ent." 


164  ASKEW. 

Dr.  Heberden's  answer. 

"  August  30,  1748. 
"  I  take  the  opportunity  of  returning  my 
thanks  by  Mr.  H.,  for  your  most  obliging  let- 
ter. No  one  can  be  ignorant  that  your  assist- 
ance and  recommendation  must  be  of  the 
highest  advantage  to  any  person  who  was  be- 
ginning the  practice  of  physic  in  London;  and 
I  am  persuaded  they  would  at  any  time  have 
determined  me  to  fix  there,  though  I  had 
otherwise  no  such  intention.  But  I  never  was 
rightly  informed  that  I  had  such  a  valuable 
opportunity  in  my  power.  By  what  accident 
or  mistake  it  happened,  I  do  not  know,  but  the 
person  you  mention  never  acquainted  me  with 
it  at  all,  nor  indeed  any  one  else  with  authority 
from  you.  I  had  only  heard  accidentally,  that 
you  had  expressed  yourself  with  great  civility, 
on  a  supposition  of  my  removing  to  London. 
There  was  no  reason,  when  I  first  heard  such 
reports,  to  imagine  that  they  amounted  to  any 
thing  more  than  your  good  wishes.  As  soon 
as  I  could  believe  there  was  the  least  proba- 
bility of  your  intending  to  assist  me  with  your 
interest,   I   immediately  took  the   liberty  of 


ASKEW.  165 

writing  to  you.  I  must  reckon  it  among  my 
greatest  misfortunes,  that  this  application 
came  too  late:  though  I  shall  always  think 
myself  under  the  same  obligations  to  you,  as 
if  I  had  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  your  kind  in- 
tentions. My  best  acknowledgments  are  due 
for  the  assurances  of  your  disposition  to  assist 
me  still,  where  your  other  engagements  have 
not  put  it  out  of  your  power ;  and  it  is  with  the 
highest  satisfaction  that  I  find  myself  pos- 
sessed of  a  place  in  your  friendship.  I  pro- 
pose seeing  London  some  time  in  October,  in 
order  to  consult  with  some  friends  about  the 
advisableness  of  my  settling  there,  when  I 
hope  to  have  the  pleasure  of  paying  my  re- 
spects to  you." 

He  settled  in  London  the  following  Christ- 
mas. The  name  of  the  person  alluded  to  in 
Sir  Edward  Hulse's  letter  does  not  appear, 
for  it  was  effectually  erased  from  the  origi- 
nal letter,  though  it  shows  something  indica- 
tive of  a  superior  mind  to  be  told,  that  Dr. 
Heberden  afterwards  lived  on  terms  of  friend- 
ship with  the  author  of  so  base  a  transaction. 
Not  long  after  he  came  to  reside  in  town,  he 


166  ASKEW. 

met  Dr.  Mead  in  consultation  at  the  Duke  of 
Leeds',  and  observed  his  faculties  to  be  so  im- 
paired, that  he  then  determined  within  him- 
self, that  if  he  ever  lived  to  the  same  age  of 
seventy-eight,  he  would  give  up  practice. 
And  this  resolution  he  strictly  adhered  to,  say- 
ing that  people's  friends  were  not  forward  to 
tell  them  of  their  decay,  and  that  he  would 
rather  retire  from  business  several  years  too 
soon,  than  follow  it  one  hour  too  long. 

"  Plutarch,"  said  he,  "  has  told  us  that  the 
life  of  a  vestal  virgin  was  divided  into  three 
portions;  in  the  first  of  which  she  learned  the 
duties  of  her  profession,  in  the  second  she 
practised  them,  and  in  the  third  she  taught 
them  to  others."  This,  he  maintained,  was 
no  bad  model  for  the  life  of  a  physician;  and 
when  he  had  passed  through  the  two  first  of 
these  periods,  he  addressed  himself  diligently 
to  the  work  of  teaching  others.  The  motto 
prefixed  to  his  commentaries  was  expressive  of 
this  his  favourite  maxim — 

npmv  xai  xdfivsiv  obxiri  Suvafievos,  touto   to    BiftAiov 
eypcupa. 

But  while  in  the  enjoyment  of  health,  he  lived 


ASKEW.  167 

much  with  scholars  and  men  of  science,  among 
whom  may  be  reckoned  Gray,  Bryant,  Wray, 
Cavendish,  Hurd,  Kennicott,  Lowth,  Jenyns, 
Tyrwhitt,  Jortin,  and  most  of  the  distin- 
guished men  of  his  time.  Of  the  amusements 
of  this  literary  coterie,  take  this  as  an  example. 
Mr.  Stuart,  best  known  by  the  name  of 
Athenian  Stuart,  having  presented  Dr.  Heb- 
erden  with  a  tea-chest  made  of  olive  wood 
from  Athens,  Mr.  Tyrwhitt,  who  soon  after 
dined  with  him,  inspired  by  so  classical  a  sub- 
ject, sent  him  the  next  day  the  following  copy 
of  verses. 

In  Attic  fields,  by  famed  Ilissus'  flood, 

The  sacred  tree  of  Pallas  once  I  stood. 

Now  torn  from  thence,  with  graceful  emblems  drest, 

For  Mira's  tea  I  form  a  polish'd  chest. 

Athens,  farewell!  no  longer  I  repine 

For  my  Socratic  shade  and  patroness  divine. 

Sir  William  Jones  *  afterwards  rendered 

*  Translated  by  Sir  William  Jones. 
IIa?,Xa8og  tjv  nors  devhpov    en  'EtXcffeoto  fiesdpotq 
Kapizyt  ayaXXofievov  xatXnzaprj  (pexadi, 
Ts/JLve  pap^  6  yXuTzrr)?  xat  ano^eae,  vuvde  8savou<s 
AaudaXer)  Xapval;  IvBtxa  <puXXa  <pepiow 
Xaip\  u)  Kexponos  aia'  t:  p.ot  p-eXsc  •  oux  eTZidu[i(o 
2toxpaTtx7j?  to%6t]s,  yXauxo<piXoo  re  0eecy. 


168  ASKEW. 

the  same  into  Greek,  and  Jacob  Bryant,  Esq. 
author  of  the  Ancient  Mythology,  into  Latin. 
The  chest  speaks  its  own  native  language  the 
best,  but  should  it  imitate  my  example,  and, 
inspired  by  the  flattering  notice  of  such  distin- 
guished men,  begin  to  talk  again,  and  procure, 
as  an  amanuensis,  the  elegant  scholar  in  whose 
possession  it  now  is,  let  it  speak  whatever 
tongue  it  may,  I  am  afraid  my  memoirs  would 
soon  be  consigned  to  neglect. 

Dr.  Heberden  was  always  exceedingly  lib- 
eral and  charitable,  therefore  as  soon  as  he 
found  he  could  support  himself  in  London,  he 
voluntarily  relinquished  a  fellowship  which  he 
held  in  St.  John's  College  for  the  benefit  of 
some  poorer  scholar  to  whom  it  might  be  of 
use.  He  was  forward  in  encouraging  all  ob- 
jects of  science  and  literature,  and  promoting 

By  Jacob  Bryant,  Esq. 
Hospes  ego  in  terras  nuper  delata  Britannas, 
Arbor  eram  iEgiferae  maxima  cura  Deae. 
Exul  ab  Ilisso  Thamesina  ad  littora  sistor, 
Hei  mihi !  dulce  solum,  patria  terra,  vale ! 
Non  tamen  in  fines  cupio  remeare  priores; 
Omnia,  quae  amisi,  reddidit  una  domus. 
Hie  Musae  atque  artes,  hie  dignus  Socrate  sermo, 
Et,  pro  Pallade,  me  Pallade  nata  fovet. 


ASKEW. 


169 


all  useful  institutions.  There  was  scarcely  a 
public  charity  to  which  he  did  not  subscribe,  or 
any  work  of  merit  to  which  he  did  not  give  his 
support.  He  recommended  to  the  College  of 
Physicians  the  first  design  of  their  Medical 
Transactions;  was  the  author  of  several  pa- 
pers in  them,  also  of  some  in  the  Philosophical 

*  Dr.  Heberden,  from  a  portrait  of  him  in  the  Dining 
Room  of  the  College. 


170  ASKEW. 

Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society,  as  well  as 
of  Commentaries  on  the  History  and  Cure  of 
Diseases. 

He  was  much  esteemed  by  his  Majesty 
King  George  the  Third;  and  upon  the 
Queen's  first  coming  to  England,  in  1761,  had 
been  named  as  Physician  to  her  Majesty,  an 
honour  which  he  thought  fit  to  decline.  The 
real  reason  of  which  was,  that  he  was  appre- 
hensive it  might  interfere  with  those  connex- 
ions of  life  that  he  had  now  formed.  In  1796 
he  met  with  an  accident  which  disabled  him  for 
the  last  few  years  of  his  life;  till  then  he  had 
always  been  in  the  habit  of  walking,  if  he 
could,  some  part  of  every  day.  It  deserves  to 
be  mentioned,  that  when  he  was  fast  approach- 
ing to  the  age  of  ninety,  he  observed,  that 
though  his  occupations  and  pleasures  were 
certainly  changed  from  what  they  had  used 
to  be,  yet  he  knew  not  if  he  had  ever  passed  a 
year  more  comfortably  than  the  last. 

He  lived  to  his  ninety-first  year  (for  I  am 
anticipating,  by  many  years,  my  own  history), 
and  there  can  hardly  be  a  more  striking  me- 
morial of  the  perfect  condition  of  his  mind  to 
the   very   last,   than   that   within   forty-eight 


ASKEW.  171 

hours  of  his  decease  he  repeated  a  sentence 
from  an  ancient  Roman  author,  signifying, 
that  "  Death  is  kinder  to  none  than  those  to 
whom  it  comes  uninvoked." 

His  address  was  pleasing  and  unaffected, 
his  observations  cautious  and  profound,  and 
he  had  a  happy  manner  of  getting  able  men  to 
exhibit  their  several  talents,  which  he  directed 
and  moderated  with  singular  attention  and 
good  humour. 

But,  though  rendered  eminent  by  his  skill 
as  a  physician,  he  conferred  a  more  valuable 
and  permanent  lustre  on  his  profession  by  the 
worth  and  excellence  of  his  private  character. 
From  his  early  youth  Dr.  William  Heberden 
had  entertained  a  deep  sense  of  religion,  a  con- 
summate love  of  virtue,  an  ardent  thirst  after 
knowledge,  and  an  earnest  desire  to  promote 
the  welfare  and  happiness  of  all  mankind.  By 
these  qualities,  accompanied  with  great 
sweetness  of  manners,  he  acquired  the  love 
and  esteem  of  all  good  men,  in  a  degree  which 
perhaps  very  few  have  experienced;  and  after 
passing  an  active  life  with  the  uniform  testi- 
mony of  a  good  conscience,  he  became  a 
distinguished    example    of    its    influence,    in 


172  ASKEW. 

the  cheerfulness  and  serenity  of  his  latest  age. 
In  proof  of  these  assertions  I  will  men- 
tion an  anecdote  of  him  which,  though  now 
perhaps  almost  forgotten,  somehow  or  other 
transpired  at  the  time,  and  was  duly  appre- 
ciated by  his  contemporaries.  After  the  death 
of  Dr.  Conyers  Middleton,  (whom  I  have  had 
occasion  to  speak  of  before,  as  the  author  of 
the  attack  on  the  dignity  of  physic,  which 
was  so  warmly  and  triumphantly  repelled  by 
Dr.  Mead),  his  widow  called  upon  Dr.  He- 
berden  with  a  MS.  treatise  of  her  late  hus- 
band, about  the  publication  of  which  she  was 
desirous  of  consulting  him.  The  religion  of 
Dr.  Middleton  had  always  been  justly  sus- 
pected, and  it  was  quite  certain  that  his  phi- 
losophy had  never  taught  him  candour.  Dr. 
Heberden  having  perused  the  MS.,  which  was 
on  the  inefficacy  of  prayer,  told  the  lady  that 
though  the  work  might  be  deemed  worthy  of 
the  learning  of  her  departed  husband,  its  ten- 
dency was  by  no  means  creditable  to  his  prin- 
ciples, and  would  be  injurious  to  his  memory; 
but  as  the  matter  pressed,  he  would  ascertain 
what  a  publisher  might  be  disposed  to  give 


ASKEW.  173 

for  the  copyright.  This  he  accordingly  did; 
and  having  found  that  £150  might  be  pro- 
cured, he  himself  paid  the  widow  £200,  and 
consigned  the  MS.  to  the  flames. 


PITCAIRN. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


When  the  Radcliffe  Library  was  opened 
at  Oxford,  which  was  done  April  13th,  1749, 
with  great  solemnity,  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Medicine  was  conferred  by  diploma  upon 
Dr.  William  Pitcairn;  and  the  College  of 
Physicians  hastened  to  adopt  him,  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  into  their  corporate  body.  He 
was  descended  from  the  family  of  Dr.  Archi- 
bald Pitcairn,  celebrated  as  the  founder  of 
the  mechanical  sect  of  medicine,  who,  having 
followed  the  fortunes  of  the  exiled  James,  was, 
for  a  short  time,  Professor  of  the  Practice  of 


PITCAIRN.  175 

Physic  at  the  University  of  Leyden.  Boer- 
haave  and  Mead  had  been  fellow  pupils  of  this 
distinguished  man,  and  Dr.  Wm.  Pitcairn, 
into  whose  hands  I  now  was  delivered,  had 
studied  under  Boerhaave;  afterwards  he  had 
travelled  with  the  Duke  of  Hamilton  (to 
whose  family  he  was  related),  though  not  in 
a  medical  capacity.  His  brother,  a  Major  in 
the  army,  had  been  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Bunker's  Hill,  and  as  there  was  not  in  the 
world  a  more  excellent  or  benevolent  character 
than  my  present  master,  he  adopted  his  or- 
phan children,  and  always  acted  towards  them 
with  the  affection  and  solicitude  of  a  parent. 
He  was  a  man  of  very  agreeable  manners,  and 
his  society  was  much  sought  after.— Among 
the  many  occasions  on  which  I  attended  him 
to  the  houses  of  his  professional  brethren,  I 
remember  once  particularly,  when  in  company 
with  his  nephew,  then  a  very  young  man 
(afterwards  Dr.  David  Pitcairn),  we  called 
upon  Dr.  Richard  Warren.  We  were  re- 
ceived with  the  greatest  kindness  and  alacrity, 
the  Doctor  showing  my  master  that  respectful 
attention  which,  without  checking  the  familiar 
tone  of  friendly  intercourse,  is  due  and  agree- 


176 


PITCAIRN. 


able  to  superiors  in  age.  During  the  lively 
and  entertaining  conversation  which  ensued, 
Dr.  Pitcairn,  in  introducing  his  nephew,  ex- 
pressed himself  in  these  words: — "Dr.  War- 
ren, my  nephew,  whom  I  present  to  you, 
received    his    early    education    at    Glasgow, 

*  William  Pitcairn,  M.  D.    F.  R.  S.     From  a  portrait, 
anno  1777,  by  Sir  J.  Reynolds. 


PITCAIRN.  177 

but  afterwards  I  took  him  home,  and  kept  him 
here  in  London,  under  my  own  eye  for  a  short 
time,  endeavouring  to  give  him  some  of  my 
peculiar  views  of  practice.  He  is  now  just 
returned  from  Edinburgh,  where  he  has 
been  under  the  tuition  of  my  countryman,  Dr. 
Cullen,  whose  clinical  clerk  he  has  been  for  a 
twelvemonth.  Surely  you  will  think  him  a 
youth  of  promise  in  his  profession  when  I  in- 
form you,  that  in  the  case  of  the  son  of  that 
great  master  of  physic,  which  the  father 
thought  desperate,  he  took  a  hint  from  what 
he  had  learned  in  London,  and  advised  a 
larger  dose  of  laudanum  than  is  usually  made 
use  of,  which  restored  the  child  of  his  precep- 
tor and  friend.  My  currus  triumphalis  opii, 
as  some  of  my  brethren  have  been  pleased  to 
call  my  practice,  has  thus  travelled  north- 
wards to  my  own  country,  and  I  rejoice  that 
it  has  reached  the  door  of  so  amiable  a  man 
and  excellent  practitioner  as  Dr.  Cullen."  So 
strong  a  recommendation  was  not  without 
its  effect^  and  the  expressions  of  friendship 
with  which  Dr.  Warren  received  the  young 
student  of  physic  were  afterwards  amply  ful- 
filled by  the  real  assistance  and  countenance 


178  PITCAIRN. 

which  he  gave  him  in  the  commencement  of 
his  professional  career.  On  our  return  from 
Sackville  Street,  where  Dr.  Warren  lived,  to 
our  own  residence,  in  Warwick  Court,  War- 
wick Lane,  when  I  had  been  carefully  re- 
placed in  the  carriage — "  David,"  said  my 
master  to  his  nephew,  "  the  Physician  whose 
house  we  have  left  is  a  remarkable  man,  and 
well  worthy  your  observation.  He  has  risen 
rapidly  to  the  top  of  his  profession,  and  his 
abilities  justify  his  success.  You  must  have 
remarked  the  liveliness,  distinctness,  and  ac- 
curacy of  his  mind,  and  the  felicity  of  expres- 
sion with  which  he  explains  himself,  exhibit- 
ing at  once  a  clearness  of  comprehension  and 
a  depth  of  knowledge  that  are  very  rarely  to 
be  met  with.  He  has  certainly  had  some  con- 
siderable advantages  in  the  beginning  of  his 
professional  life,  was  early  admitted  into  the 
best  society,  and  is  the  intimate  friend  of  the 
minister,  Lord  North,  who  is  confessedly  the 
most  agreeable  man  of  our  day.  You  see  how 
kindly  he  has  received  you;  and  as  I  hope,  nay, 
fully  expect,  that  you  will  become  intimately 
acquainted  with  him,  I  think  you  will  like  to 
know  all  about  him.     His  father  was  the  Rev. 


PITCAIRN. 


179 


Dr.  Richard  Warren,  Archdeacon  of  Suffolk 
and  Rector  of  Cavendish,  in  the  same  county; 
a  divine  of  considerable  eminence,  and  one  of 
those  who  entered  into  the  controversy  upon 
the  Sacrament  against  Bishop  Hoadley.  He 
was  also  editor  of  the  Greek  Commentary  of 
Hierocles  upon  the  golden  verses  of  Pytha- 
goras.    My  friend,  the  Doctor,  was  the  third 

*  Dr.  Richard  Warren,  from  a  portrait  of  him  in  the 
Dining  Room  of  the  College. 


180  PITCAIRN. 

son,  and  was  born  at  Cavendish,  in  December, 
1731:  he  received  the  rudiments  of  his  educa- 
tion at  the  public  school  at  Bury  St.  Edmunds, 
in  Suffolk;  from  whence  in  the  year  1748, 
immediately  upon  his  father's  death,  he  re- 
moved to  Jesus  College,  Cambridge.  At  this 
time  he  had  little  but  his  industry  and  natural 
talents  to  support  him,  aided  by  the  reputation 
of  being  the  son  of  a  clergyman  of  ability. 
How  far  this  served  him,  however,  in  the  be- 
ginning of  life  may  be  doubted,  for  the  low 
church  party  prevailed  at  that  time  in  the 
University  with  such  violence,  as  not  to  dis- 
pose the  persons  then  in  authority  to  look  with 
an  eye  of  kindness  upon  the  son  of  an  an- 
tagonist of  Hoadley.  In  due  time  he  took 
the  degree  of  A.  B.,  and  his  name  appears 
fourth  in  the  list  of  wranglers  of  that  year. 
I  am  not  much  acquainted  with  the  forms  of 
these  English  Universities,  as  I  have  never 
resided  at  either  of  them;  but  I  have  been 
given  to  understand,  that  if  fair  justice  had 
been  done  my  friend,  he  ought  to  have 
been  placed  even  higher;  it  is  certain,  how- 
ever, that  he  obtained  the  prize  granted 
to  the  middle  Bachelors  of  Arts  for  Latin 


PITCAIRN.  181 

prose  composition,  and  the  following  year 
got  the  prize  for  the  senior  Bachelors.  Be- 
ing already  elected  Fellow  of  his  College, 
the  choice  of  a  profession  presented  itself  to 
his  mind.  To  pursue  the  steps  of  his  father, 
who  had  been  like  himself  a  Fellow  of  Jesus 
College,  was  perhaps  the  most  obvious;  but 
he  had  two  elder  brothers  already  in  the 
church,  which  indeed  might  be  considered  his 
family  profession,  as  his  ancestors  had  fol- 
lowed it  from  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
His  own  inclination,  as  I  have  often  heard 
him  say,  would  have  led  him  to  the  law,  but 
the  res  angusta  domi  was  an  invincible  ob- 
stacle, and  accident  at  length  threw  him  upon 
the  study  of  physic. 

"  Whether  fortunately  for  himself,  great  as 
has  been  his  early  success,  and  promising  as 
his  future  prospects  undoubtedly  are,  may  be 
questioned;  for  abilities  like  his  would  have 
led  him  to  the  head  of  any  other  profession. 
At  this  critical  moment  the  son  of  Dr.  Peter 
Shaw  was  entered  at  Jesus  College,  and 
placed  under  his  tuition.  The  name  of  this 
Physician  must  be  known  to  you  from  his 
works,  by  his  editions  of  Bacon  and  Boyle, 


182  PITCAIRN. 

and  from  the  fact  of  his  having  been  one  of 
the  Physicians  of  George  the  Second,  and  the 
usual  medical  attendant  upon  that  Monarch 
in  his  journeys  to  Hanover.  The  casual  ac- 
quaintance which  my  friend  thus  formed  de- 
termined his  lot  in  life;  for  Dr.  Shaw,  who 
was  a  very  amiable  and  high  spirited  man, 
and  possessed  of  various  knowledge,  was  na- 
turally pleased  with  similar  qualities  in  a 
young  man;  took  an  interest  in  his  welfare, 
and  in  recommending  him  to  pursue  the  study 
of  medicine,  predicted  that  he  would  rank  with 
the  first  Physicians  of  his  country.  This  con- 
nexion was  some  years  afterwards  strength- 
ened by  a  marriage  with  Dr.  Shaw's  daugh- 
ter ;  and  much  of  the  early  difficulty  of  medical 
life  was  consequently  overcome  by  an  imme- 
diate introduction  to  the  prominent  Physicians 
of  that  day,  and  to  some  of  the  upper  circles 
in  life,  in  which  Dr.  Shaw  moved.  Sir  Ed- 
ward Wilmot,  at  that  time  a  Physician  to  the 
Court,  and  much  employed  among  the  nobil- 
ity, was  the  attendant  on  the  Princess  Amelia, 
the  daughter  of  George  the  Second.  Being 
advanced  in  fife  and  looking  to  retirement,  he 
was  led  to  propose  Dr.  Warren  as  an  assist- 


PITCAIRN.  183 

ant  to  attend  to  the  more  minute  and  arduous 
duties  required  by  a  royal  patient,  who  was 
besides  subject  to  sudden  seizures  that  created 
alarm.  At  the  commencement  of  his  practice, 
Dr.  Warren,  during  three  summers,  went 
to  Tonbridge  Wells,  and  on  two  of  these 
occasions  Her  Royal  Highness  visited  that 
watering-place  under  his  care.  On  the  re- 
tirement of  Sir  Edward  Wilmot,  he  continued 
Physician  to  the  Princess,  and  one  of  the  re- 
wards bestowed  upon  him  was  the  appoint- 
ment of  Physician  to  the  King,  which  was  pro- 
cured for  him  by  her  influence,  on  the  resigna- 
tion of  his  father-in-law,  Dr.  Shaw,  who  had 
been  continued  in  that  office  on  the  accession 
of  George  the  Third.  He  was  for  a  short 
time  one  of  the  Physicians  to  the  Middlesex 
Hospital,  then  in  its  infancy;  and  afterwards, 
for  several  years,  belonged  to  St.  George's 
Hospital. 

"  His  progress  has  been  more  rapid  than 
that  of  any  other  physician  of  our  time,  and 
when  you  meet  him  in  practice,  which  I  hope 
you  may  often  do  hereafter,  you  will  discover 
in  him  a  marked  superiority  over  other  men." 

My  master  here  paused  for  an  instant,  and 


184  PITCAIRJNT. 

taking  me  up  from  the  position  in  which  I 
had  been  lying,  raised  me  to  the  level  of  his 
eyes,  and  looking  attentively  at  my  head,  ex- 
claimed, "  This  cane,  which  my  worthy  friend, 
Dr.  Askew,  left  to  me  about  two  years  ago, 
once  belonged  to  Radcliffe,  and  might  well 
have  descended  to  Dr.  Warren,  for  no  one 
more  resembles  that  penetrating  physician, 
and  most  extraordinary  man,  in  the  accuracy 
of  his  prognosis,  and  the  almost  intuitive  sa- 
gacity with  which  he  sees  at  a  glance  the  true 
nature  of  a  complaint.  But  I  recommend  you 
to  read  his  Harveian  Oration,  which  I  heard 
him  deliver  seven  years  ago,  where,  notwith- 
standing the  difficulty  of  introducing  any 
thing  like  novelty  into  the  annual  commemora- 
tion of  the  Benefactors  of  the  College,  you 
will  find  that  he  has  contrived  to  treat  the  sub- 
ject with  the  sprightliness,  the  force  and 
brevity,  the  precision  of  thought,  and  smart- 
ness of  expression,  that  are  peculiarly  his  own. 
The  characters  are  drawn  without  effort,  the 
narration  flows  easily  and  naturally,  contain- 
ing touches  of  tenderness  and  pathos  when  he 
alludes  to  the  death  of  his  early  friends,  Wol- 
laston  and  Hadley,  and  rising  even  to  elo- 


PITCAIRN.  185 

quence  when  he  comes  to  speak  of  his  relative, 
Dr.  Shaw.  But  here,"  continued  he,  as  we 
entered  the  narrowest  part  of  Warwick  Lane, 
"  is  the  College  of  Physicians,  where  I  heard 
the  speech  delivered;  we  will  alight,  and  send 
the  carriage  home.  As  I  am  now  the  Presi- 
dent, I  will  show  you  the  interior  of  the  build- 
ing, point  out  and  explain  to  you  some  of  its 
contents."  We  stopped  at  some  large  iron 
gates,  and  passed  under  the  curiously  con- 
structed dome,  built  in  an  oval  form  over  the 
entrance,  the  plan  of  which  was  furnished  by 
Sir  Christopher  Wren.  On  the  opposite  side 
of  the  court,  he  pointed  out,  over  the  door,  in 
a  niche,  the  statue  of  Charles  II.,  voted  in 
1680,  with  the  following  inscription,  expres- 
sive of  the  various  fortunes  of  that  monarch. 

Utriusque    Fortunae   Exemplar 

Ingens    Adversis    Rebus    Deum 

Probavit  Prosperis  Seipsum 

Collegii  Hujusce  Stator. 

On  entering  the  Hall,  we  turned  to  the  right, 
and  saw  the  Library,  consisting  of  two  rooms 
communicating  with  each  other,  with  galleries 
running  round  them.     "  The  College,"  said 


186  PITCAIRN. 

my  master,  "  was  built  and  used  for  public 
meetings,  in  the  year  1674,  but  this  Library 
was  not  finished  till  eight  or  ten  years  after  *. 
Unfortunately  we  have  lost  our  able  Librarian, 
George  Edwards,  who  died  two  years  ago,  at 
the  age  of  eighty.  But  here,"  said  Dr.  Pit- 
cairn,  "  is  his  work  on  Birds,  which  he  began 
about  seven  years  after  he  was  chosen  Library 
Keeper,  to  which  office  he  was  elected  in 
1733,  through  the  influence  of  Sir  Hans 
Sloane,  who  continued  through  life  his  great 
patron.  Edwards  was  an  extraordinary  man; 
when  young  he  had  been  intended  for  trade, 
but  having  an  opportunity  to  travel,  he  much 
improved  himself;  and  when,  on  his  return 
from  abroad,  he  was  lucky  enough  to  obtain 
the  leisure  which  his  office  here  afforded  him, 
he  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  natural  his- 
tory, and  became  by  great  assiduity  a  distin- 

*  Evelyn  relates  that  he  dined  with  Dr.  Whistler  in 
the  house  which  stands  on  the  right  hand  as  you  cross 
the  court,  in  1683,  and  met  on  that  occasion  Sir  Thomas 
Millington,  the  President.  He  represents  them  both  as 
learned  men,  and  speaks  of  Dr.  Whistler,  who  was  then 
Censor,  as  the  most  facetious  man  in  nature,  and  says, 
that  he  was  himself  then  consulted  about  the  building  of 
this  Library. 


PITCAIRN.  187 

guished  ornithologist.  During  thirty-six 
years  he  was  Librarian  to  the  College,  and  in 
that  period  was  chosen  Fellow  of  the  Royal 
and  Antiquarian  Societies,  and  by  the  first  of 
these  learned  bodies  was  rewarded  with  the 
Copley  medal;  of  which  he  was  deservedly  so 
proud,  as  to  have  caused  it  to  be  engraved  in 
the  title-page  of  the  first  volume  of  his  work. 
Were  he  in  my  place,  he  would  exhibit  to  you 
the  treasures  of  our  Library,  which,  though 
imperfect  as  a  collection  of  medical  books  (for 
it  consists  chiefly  of  donations),  is  rich  in  rare 
classics,  curious  manuscripts,  and  in  very 
scarce  and  valuable  Treatises  on  Civil  Law." 
On  returning  to  the  Hall,  we  ascended  a 
broad  staircase,  the  sides  of  which  were  hung 
with  pictures,  and  on  the  first  landing-place 
stopped,  to  read  the  long  inscription  to  the 
memory  of  Harvey.  "  This,"  said  my  master, 
"  was  voted  by  the  College,  in  1659,  the  year 
after  the  death  of  this  illustrious  man.  You 
see  it  is  on  copper,  which  proves  that  it  is  a 
copy  of  the  original  epitaph,  for  that  was  on 
marble  *.     During  his  lif  etime  a  statue,  or- 

*  Marmor  incisum  epitaphium,  in  suo  apud  nos  Mu- 
saeo. — Harney's  MS. 


188  PITCAIRN. 

namented  with  a  cap  and  gown,  on  the  pedes- 
tal of  which  was  another  inscription,  had  been 
erected  in  the  Hall  of  the  College,  in  Amen 
Corner;  but  this  honorary  tablet  which  we  are 
now  looking  at  was  placed  in  the  Museum 
which  bore  his  own  name."  And  this  differ- 
ence of  position  is  alluded  to  in  the  inscription 
itself,  for  after  enumerating  the  virtues,  the 
discoveries,  and  more  especially  the  various 
claims  Harvey  has  to  the  eternal  gratitude  of 
the  College,  it  concludes — 

Ne  mireris  igitur  Lector 

Si  quern  Marmoreum  illic  stare  vides 

Hie  totam  implevit  Tabulam. 

Abi  et  merere  alteram. 

We  now  reached  the  great  room,  or  Csena- 
culum,  wainscoted  by  Harney  with  Spanish 
oak,  at  the  expense  of  some  hundred  pounds, 
in  the  most  elegant  manner,  with  pilasters  and 
carved  capitals;  and  here  the  President  ex- 
plained to  his  nephew  the  pictures  with  which 
this  and  the  adjoining  Censor's  Room  were 
adorned.  He  particularly  called  his  attention 
to  the  portraits  of  Sir  Theodore  Mayerne,  of 
Sydenham,   of   Harvey,    and   of   the   deeply 


PITCAIRN.  189 

learned  Physician  and  antiquary,  Sir  Thomas 
Browne,  the  author  of  the  Religio  Medici. 
While  gazing  on  that  of  Sir  Edmund  King — 
"  To  be  a  court  Physician  now-a-days,"  said 
my  master,  "  does  not  involve  quite  so  much 
responsibility  as  formerly,  for  the  Doctor 
whose  likeness  is  before  us  incurred  consider- 
able hazard,  by  saving  for  a  time  the  life  of 
His  Majesty  Charles  the  Second.  When  the 
King  was  first  seized  with  his  last  illness,  it 
was  in  his  bedchamber,  where  he  was  surprised 
by  an  apoplectic  fit,  so  that,  if  by  God's  provi- 
dence Dr.  King  had  not  been  accidentally 
present  to  let  him  blood  (having  his  lancet  in 
his  pocket),  His  Majesty  had  certainly  died 
that  moment;  which  might  have  been  of  dire- 
ful consequence,  there  being  nobody  else  pres- 
ent with  the  King,  save  this  Doctor  and  one 
more.  It  was  considered  a  mark  of  extraor- 
dinary dexterity,  resolution,  and  presence  of 
mind  in  the  Doctor  to  let  him  blood  in  the  very 
paroxysm,  without  staying  the  coming  of 
other  physicians,  which  regularly  should  have 
been  done,  and  for  want  of  which  it  was  at 
first  thought  that  he  would  require  a  regular 
pardon.     The   Privy    Council,    however,    ap- 


190  PITCAIRN. 

proved  of  what  he  had  done,  and  ordered  him 
£1000 — which,  by  the  by,  was  never  paid  him." 

We  next  passed  to  the  portrait  of  Vesalius, 
on  board,  by  Calker.  "  This  famous  anato- 
mist," continued  the  President,  "  was  some 
time  Physician  to  the  Emperor  Charles  the 
Fifth,  but  being  disgusted  with  the  manners 
of  a  court,  he  made  a  voyage  to  the  Holy 
Land;  on  his  return  thence  to  fill  the  chair 
of  Professor  of  Medicine  at  Padua,  to  which 
he  had  been  invited  on  the  death  of  Fallo- 
pius,  he  was  shipwrecked  in  1564,  in  the  Isle 
of  Zante,  where  he  perished  of  hunger." 

Opposite  the  full  length  portrait  of  Sir 
Hans  Sloane  my  master  paused,  and  told  his 
nephew,  that  "  Sir  Hans,  in  the  decline  of 
his  life,  had  left  London,  and  retired  to  his 
manor-house  *  at  Chelsea,  where  he  resided 
about  fourteen  years  before  he  died.  Our  Li- 
brarian, Edwards,  of  whom  we  were  talking  a 
few  minutes  ago,  was  used  to  visit  him  every 

*  Sloane  Street  and  Hans  Place  are  names  still  re- 
tained: the  estate  now  belongs  to  Lord  Cadogan. 
Charles,  Baron  Oakley,  brother  of  the  first  Earl  Ca- 
dogan, married  Elizabeth,  daughter  and  co-heiress  of  Sir 
Hans  Sloane. 


PITCAIRN.  191 

week  to  divert  him  for  an  hour  or  two  with  the 
common  news  of  the  town,  and  with  any  par- 
ticulars that  might  have  happened  amongst 
his  acquaintances  of  the  Royal  Society,  or 
other  ingenious  gentlemen,  and  seldom  missed 
drinking  coffee  with  him  on  a  Saturday.  The 
old  baronet  was  so  infirm,  as  to  be  wholly  con- 
fined to  his  house,  except  sometimes,  though 
rarely,  taking  a  little  air  in  his  garden  in  a 
wheeled  chair;  and  this  confinement  made  him 
very  desirous  to  see  any  of  his  old  acquaintance 
to  amuse  him.  Knowing  that  the  Librarian 
did  not  abound  in  the  gifts  of  fortune,  he  was 
strictly  careful,  Edwards  used  to  say,  that 
he  should  be  at  no  expense  in  his  journeys 
from  London  to  Chelsea;  and  Sir  Hans  would 
calculate  what  the  cost  of  coach  hire,  waterage, 
or  any  other  little  charge  attending  on  his 
journeys  backward  and  forward  would 
amount  to,  and,  observing  as  much  delicacy  as 
possible,  would  oblige  him  annually  to  accept 
of  it.  In  this  quiet  and  inoffensive  life  did 
he  continue  exercising  the  most  charitable  dis- 
position towards  decayed  branches  of  families 
of  eminent  men,  famous  for  their  learned 
works,  till  January,  1753,  when  he  died,  with 


192  PITCAIRN. 

great  firmness  of  mind,  and  resignation  to  the 
will  of  God.  Thirty  years  before  this  event, 
he  had  presented  to  the  Apothecaries'  Com- 
pany his  botanical  garden  at  Chelsea,  upon 
the  following  conditions,  viz.  the  payment  of 
£5  per  annum,  and  the  yearly  offering  of  fifty 
plants  to  the  Royal  Society,  till  the  number 
amounted  to  2000.  If  it  were  attempted  to 
convert  it  to  any  other  use,  it  was  to  devolve  to 
the  Royal  Society,  and  ultimately  to  the  Col- 
lege of  Physicians;  but  the  intentions  of  the 
original  donor  have  been  most  faithfully  and 
liberally  fulfilled  by  the  Apothecaries,  who 
expend  a  very  large  sum  annually,  with  no 
other  view  than  the  promotion  of  botanical 
knowledge,  more  especially  in  the  cultivation 
of  curious  and  rare  plants.  In  1748,  they 
erected  a  statue  *  to  Sir  Hans,  in  front  of  the 
green-house,  with  this  inscription — 

Hansio  Sloane  Baronetto  Archiatro 

Insignissimo    Botanices    Fautori 

hoc  honoris  causa  monimentum 

Inque  perpetuam  ejus  Memoriam 

Sacrum  Voluit 

Societas  Pharmacopjeiorum  Londinensis 

1733." 

*  It  is  by  Rysbrach,  and  cost  £280. 


PITCAIRN.  193 

The  merit  and  virtues  of  Sir  Hans  had  par- 
ticularly caught  the  attention  of  young  Pit- 
cairn,  and  his  character  continued  to  form  the 
subject  of  conversation  as  the  senior  returned 
with  his  nephew  to  his  own  house. 

"  The  immediate  result  of  his  death,"  ob- 
served the  uncle,  "  was  the  foundation  of  the 
British  Museum;  for  this  great  patron  of  sci- 
ence, being  well  aware  how  much  it  is  bene- 
fited by  the  aggregation  of  various  objects, 
and  anxious  that  his  fine  collection  should  be 
preserved  entire,  directed  by  his  will,  that  after 
his  decease  the  whole  of  his  Museum  of  natural 
and  artificial  curiosities,  which  had  cost  him 
£50,000,  should  be  offered  to  Parliament  for 
the  moderate  sum  of  £20,000,  to  be  paid  to  his 
family. 

"The  contents  of  his  collection  were  very 
various,  and  consisted  of  his  library,  books  of 
drawings,  MSS.,  &c.  50,000  volumes. 

Medals  and  coins,  23,000 

Cameos,  intaglios,  seals,  &c.      1,500, 
besides  antique  idols,  anatomical  preparations, 
amphibia,  insects,  minerals,  volumes  of  dried 
plants,    mathematical    instruments,    &c.    the 
particulars  of  which  were  entered  in  a  cata- 


194  PITCAIRN. 

logue    that    was    comprised    in    thirty-eight 
volumes  folio,  and  eight  volumes  quarto. 

"  The  offer  directed  in  the  will  of  Sir  Hans 
Sloane  was  immediately  made  to  Parliament, 
and  accepted  without  hesitation;  and  before 
the  expiration  of  the  year  of  his  death  an  Act 
was  passed,  ordering  the  payment  of  the  stipu- 
lated sum  to  his  executors,  and  vesting  the 
property  of  the  Museum  in  trustees  for  the 
use  of  the  public.  To  this  scientific  reposi- 
tory was  soon  afterwards  added  whatever  the 
Legislature  could  command;  the  Cottonian 
Library  was  obtained,  and  the  Harleian  col- 
lection of  MS.  was  purchased;  and  in  order 
to  defray  the  expenses  of  these  different  ac- 
quisitions, and  to  provide  a  proper  mansion 
for  their  reception,  Parliament  raised  the  sum 
of  £100,000  by  way  of  Lottery.  The  trus- 
tees then  bought  of  the  representatives  of  the 
Montague  family  the  house  which  had  been 
built  by  the  first  Duke  of  Montague ;  a  stately 
and  ample  palace,  which  had  been  originally 
ornamented  by  the  fresco  paintings  of  the  fa- 
mous Verrio,  representing  the  Funeral  Pile 
of  Dido,  the  Labours  of  Hercules,  the  Fight 
with  the  Centaurs,  and  other  designs,  excel- 


PITCAIRN.  195 

lent  on  the  walls  and  roof  of  the  great  room. 
The  gardens  and  appurtenances  occupied  to- 
gether ahout  seven  acres.  The  first  mansion 
was  destroyed  by  a  fire,  which  broke  out  in  the 
night  of  January  22d,  1685,  and  burnt  with 
so  great  violence  that  the  whole  house  was 
consumed  by  five  o'clock;  but  it  was  immedi- 
ately rebuilt,  and  ornamented  by  artists  sent 
from  France  for  that  purpose. 

"  The  British  Museum  was  opened  to  the 
public  in  1759." 

I  had  often  been  to  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians, but  never  till  this  occasion  been  carried 
thither  in  the  hands  of  a  President,  and  my 
present  master  appeared  to  me  to  dwell  with 
great  satisfaction  upon  every  part  of  the  struc- 
ture, and  every  thing  connected  with  its  his- 
tory, which  was  probably  not  felt  the  less  from 
the  reflection  that  the  distinction  of  the  Fellow- 
ship had  been  conferred  upon  him  without  his 
having  passed  through  the  ordinary  routine  of 
an  English  academical  education.  For  sev- 
eral years  Dr.  William  Pitcairn  was  the  lead- 
ing Practitioner  in  the  city,  and  thus  afforded 
me  an  opportunity  of  observing  more  closely 
the  manners  of  the  wealthy  inhabitants  of  that 


196  PITCAIRN. 

quarter,  and  contrasting  them  with  the  habits 
of  the  more  polite  and  courtly  end  of  the  town, 
to  which  I  had  previously  been  chiefly  accus- 
tomed. In  1784  he  resigned  the  office  of 
President,  being  succeeded  by  Sir  George 
Baker;  and  in  seven  years  afterwards  died, 
when  I  was  bequeathed  to  his  nephew,  Dr. 
David  Pitcairn:  this  promising  young  man 
had  realized  the  expectations  formed  of  him 
in  early  life,  and  before  he  took  his  Doctor's 
degree  at  Cambridge,  had  been  elected  Phy- 
sician to  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital.  The 
commencement  of  his  private  medical  practice 
may  be  dated  about  the  year  1780,  and  he  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  his  profession  in  Lon- 
don by  the  death  of  Dr.  Warren. 

I  have  spoken  before  of  this  eminent  Phy- 
sician, but  his  professional  career  was  so  bril- 
liant, and  attracted  my  notice  in  so  remarkable 
a  degree,  that  I  must  bestow  an  additional  ob- 
servation on  his  character.  If  posterity 
should  ask  what  works  Dr.  Warren  has  left 
behind  him  worthy  of  the  great  reputation  he 
enjoyed  during  his  lifetime,  it  must  be  an- 
swered that  such  was  his  constant  occupation 
in  practice  among  all  classes  of  people,  from 


PITCAIRN.  197 

the  highest  to  the  lowest,  that  he  had  no  leisure 
for  writing,  with  the  exception  of  a  very  few 
papers  published  in  the  College  Transactions. 
But  the  unanimous  respect  in  which  he  was 
held  by  all  his  medical  brethren,  which  no  man 
ever  obtains  without  deserving  it,  fully 
justifies  the  popular  estimate  of  his  character. 
To  a  sound  judgment  and  deep  observation 
of  men  and  things,  he  added  various  literary 
and  scientific  attainments,  which  were  most 
advantageously  displayed  by  a  talent  for  con- 
versation that  was  at  once  elegant,  easy,  and 
natural.  Of  all  men  in  the  world,  he  had  the 
greatest  flexibility  of  temper,  instantaneously 
accommodating  himself  to  the  tone  of  feeling 
of  the  young,  the  old,  the  gay,  and  the  sor- 
rowful. But  he  was  himself  of  a  very  cheer- 
ful disposition,  and  his  manners  being  pecu- 
liarly pleasing  to  others,  he  possessed  over  the 
minds  of  his  patients  the  most  absolute  con- 
trol; and  it  was  said,  with  truth,  that  no  one 
ever  had  recourse  to  his  advice  as  a  Physician, 
who  did  not  remain  desirous  of  gaining  his 
friendship  and  enjoying  his  society  as  a  com- 
panion. In  interrogating  the  patient  he  was 
apt  and  adroit;  in  the  resources  of  his  art, 


198  PITCAIRN. 

quick  and  inexhaustible ;  and  when  the  malady 
was  beyond  the  reach  of  his  skill,  the  minds 
of  the  sick  were  consoled  by  his  conversation, 
and  their  cares,  anxieties,  and  fears  soothed 
by  his  presence.  And  it  may  be  mentioned 
among  the  minor  qualities  which  distinguished 
Dr.  Warren,  that  no  one  more  readily  gained 
the  confidence  or  satisfied  the  scruples  of  the 
subordinate  attendants  upon  the  sick,  by  the 
dexterous  employment  of  the  various  argu- 
ments of  encouragement,  reproof,  and 
friendly  advice.  The  height  he  had  rapidly 
attained  in  his  profession  he  maintained  with 
unabated  spirits  till  his  death,  which  took  place 
in  1797,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five,  at  his  house 
in  Dover  Street. 

Dr.  David  Pitcairn  resided  many  years  in 
Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  and  was  early  admitted 
a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  and  Antiquarian  So- 
cieties. To  these  meetings  it  was  my  lot  often 
to  be  taken,  and  gradually  to  become  ac- 
quainted not  only  with  the  members,  but,  in 
the  course  of  the  various  conversations  which 
I  overheard,  to  pick  up  a  good  deal  of  infor- 
mation connected  with  the  former  history  and 
establishment  of  these  learned  bodies.     I  will 


PITCAIRN.  199 

endeavour  to  describe  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able evenings  passed  at  a  meeting  of  the  first 
of  these  Societies. 

When  I  was  in  the  service  of  Dr.  Mead,  the 
Royal  Society  met  in  one  of  the  Professors' 
Rooms  in  Gresham  College;  and  many  of  the 
Members  used  to  dine  at  Pontac's,  in  Ab- 
church  Lane.  The  house  was  kept  by  a 
Frenchman,  who  had  been  cook  to  M.  Pontac, 
president  of  the  parliament  of  Bourdeaux; 
and  who,  from  respect  to  the  memory  of  his 
master,  hung  up  his  effigies  as  the  outward  sign 
of  his  place  of  entertainment.  Soon  after 
their  first  incorporation  by  charter,  these  con- 
vivial meetings  themselves  were  made  sub- 
servient to  the  purposes  of  science,  and  were  in- 
tended, as  well  as  their  more  formal  stated  as- 
semblies, to  further  the  progress  of  knowledge. 
For  it  is  related  that  on  April  2d,  1682,  at  a 
supper  where  several  of  the  Society  were  pres- 
ent, every  thing  was  dressed,  both  fish  and 
flesh,  in  Monsieur  Papin's  digestors  (then 
newly  invented) ,  and  the  philosophers  ate  pike 
and  other  fish  bones,  all  without  impediment; 
nay,  the  hardest  bones  of  beef  and  mutton 
made  as  soft  as  cheese,  and  pigeons  stewed  in 


200  PITCAIRN. 

their  own  juice,  without  any  addition  of  water. 
From  this  scientific  entertainment  one  of  the 
guests  sent  home  a  glass  of  jelly  to  his  wife, 
to  the  reproach  of  all  that  the  ladies  ever 
made  of  their  best  hartshorn.  But  this  was 
in  the  infancy  of  their  establishment,  when  the 
zeal  of  the  original  founders  of  the  Society 
was  in  its  full  energy.  They  had  in  fact  only 
existed  as  a  corporate  body  about  twenty 
years,  for  it  was  in  1662  that  Charles  the  Sec- 
ond granted  them  a  charter,  at  a  period  which 
was  certainly  peculiarly  favourable  to  the 
progress  of  science  in  Britain.  The  sudden 
restoration  of  the  King  had  healed  the  di- 
visions of  party,  and  the  effervescence  of  tur- 
bulent minds  was  directed  to  the  advance- 
ment of  knowledge,  instead  of  political  specu- 
lation. The  germ  of  the  Royal  Society  may 
indeed  be  traced  a  few  years  further  back  than 
the  period  now  mentioned,  since,  so  early  as 
1645,  several  ingenious  men,  residing  in  Lon- 
don, agreed  to  meet  once  a  week  to  discourse 
upon  subjects  connected  with  Mathematics 
and  Natural  Philosophy.  They  assembled 
sometimes  in  Cheapside,  at  others  in  Gresham 
College,  but  chiefly  in  the  lodgings  of  Dr. 


PITCAIRN.  201 

Goddard,  in  Wood  Street.  This  last  place 
was  preferred,  because  the  Doctor  kept  in  his 
house  an  operator  for  grinding  glasses  for 
telescopes.  The  revolutionary  troubles  sus- 
pended for  a  time  these  meetings,  but  after 
the  restoration  they  were  revived  in  the  apart- 
ments of  Mr.  Rooke,  in  Gresham  College;  a 
set  of  regulations  was  drawn  up,  and  a  weekly 
contribution  of  one  shilling  was  collected  from 
each  of  the  members,  in  order  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  their  experimental  investigations. 
The  chief  objects  of  their  association  were 
to  publish  periodically  all  the  discoveries  which 
came  to  their  knowledge,  and  to  perform  ex- 
periments. For  the  first  of  these  purposes 
their  Secretary  was  appointed  Editor  of  their 
Transactions,  the  first  Number  of  which  ap- 
peared in  1665,  by  Mr.  Henry  Oldenburg*. 
They  were  not  for  some  time  continued  regu- 
larly, owing  to  their  limited  sale,  and  to  the 

*  It  is  related  of  this  gentleman  that  he  corresponded 
with  seventy  different  persons,  and  yet  that  he  was  very 
punctual;  for  he  never  read  a  letter  without  having  pen, 
ink,  and  paper  ready  to  write  the  answer,  by  which  means 
he  prevented  his  letters  from  accumulating,  and  himself 
from  being  fatigued,  by  having  many  answers  to  write 
at  the  same  time. 


202  PITCAIRN. 

small  profit  which  accrued  to  the  Editor. 
For  the  second  purpose  a  person  was  ap- 
pointed, with  a  salary,  to  contrive  suitable  ex- 
periments, and  to  have  every  thing  ready  for 
their  exhibition:  besides  which  they  hired  a 
man,  whom  they  called  their  English  itinerant, 
and  who  regularly  gave  an  account  of  his  au- 
tumnal peregrination  about  England,  bring- 
ing dried  fowls,  fish,  plants,  animals,  &c. 

Such  was  the  simplicity  of  this  early  estab- 
lishment, when  every  step  was  a  discovery, 
and  every  judicious  experiment  led  the  for- 
tunate philosopher  to  eminence.  In  that 
infant  period  of  science  apparatus  had  been 
procured  with  difficulty,  and  the  greatest  phi- 
losophers were  obliged  to  labour  with  their 
own  hands  to  frame  the  instruments  which 
they  were  to  use.  Hence  it  was  found  ex- 
pedient to  keep  in  the  rooms  of  the  Society  a 
collection  of  all  such  machines  as  were  likely 
to  be  useful  in  the  progress  of  experimental 
knowledge.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  little 
progress  could  be  made  by  an  individual,  and 
all  felt  the  necessity  of  mutual  co-operation. 
Money  was,  therefore,  furnished  for  the  pur- 
chase of  convenient  apparatus,  curators  and 


PITCAIRN.  203 

operators  were  employed,  by  whom  many  capi- 
tal experiments  were  made  under  the  eyes  of 
the  Society,  and  exhibited  to  the  distinguished 
strangers  who  were  invited  to  be  present. 
Nor  was  this  latter  an  uncommon  occurrence. 
Immediately  after  they  had  obtained  their 
charter,  when  Charles  the  Second  intimated 
his  intention  of  being  present  at  one  of  their 
meetings,  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  who  had 
been  consulted  upon  the  matter,  suggested 
that  His  Majesty  should  be  entertained  with 
some  experiments  upon  the  barometer,  which, 
besides  being  amusing,  were  useful  and  easy 
of  exhibition. 

The  King  was  an  experimenter  himself,  and 
had  an  elaboratory  at  Whitehall,  though, 
whether  he  believed  the  philosopher's  elixir 
attainable,  or  had  ever  seen  projection,  does 
not  appear.  But  having  bought  the  receipt 
of  the  famous  arcanum  Goddardianum  for 
the  sum  of  £1500,  His  Majesty  was  wont  to 
witness  the  distillation  as  it  was  going  on. 
The  drops  were  procured  from  raw  silk,  one 
pound  of  which  yielded  an  incredible  quantity 
of  volatile  salt,  and  in  proportion  the  finest 
spirit    that    ever    was    tasted.     The    salt    (a 


204  PITCAIRN. 

coarse  kind  of  spirit  of  hartshorn)  being  re- 
fined with  any  well  scented  chemical  oil,  made 
the  King's  salt,  as  it  was  used  to  be  called. 
The  experiments  were  shown  to  the  King 
three  years  before  the  fire  of  London,  which 
drove  the  Society  from  Gresham  College; 
when  they  were  invited  by  Mr.  Howard  to 
sit  at  Arundel  House,  in  the  Strand;  who  also 
bestowed  upon  them  the  noble  library  that  had 
been  collected  by  his  ancestors.  After  the  fire 
the  Society  returned  to  Gresham  College, 
which  when  they  finally  left,  they  purchased 
a  house  in  Crane  Court,  Fleet  Street,  where 
their  meetings  continued  to  be  held,  till  the 
government,  a  short  time  ago,  allotted  them 
apartments  in  Somerset  House.  Since  that 
period,  the  Club,  which  consists  of  the  more 
select  of  the  Society,  have  for  many  years 
dined  at  the  neighbouring  tavern,  the  Crown 
and  Anchor;  where,  at  half  past  five  o'clock 
on  each  Thursday  previous  to  the  sitting  of 
the  Society,  you  are  sure  of  meeting  with  very 
indifferent  cheer,  but  excellent  company.  On 
the  7th  April,  1791,  I  accompanied  Dr.  Pit- 
cairn  to  the  tavern,  and  met  there  Prince  Po- 
niatowsky,  who  had  been  invited  as  a  guest. 


PITCAIRN.  205 

Sir  Joseph  Banks  was  in  the  chair.  His 
Highness  appeared  about  fifty,  had  a  good 
face,  was  of  middling  stature,  was  dressed  in 
black,  had  the  order  of  Malta  in  his  button- 
hole, and  wore  his  hair  in  a  round  curl. — 
When  the  dinner  was  over,  after  the  usual 
toast,  "  the  King,"  Sir  Joseph  proposed  the 
health  of  the  King  of  Poland,  which  was  drunk 
by  the  company.  Soon  after,  the  Prince  took 
an  opportunity  of  the  President's  getting  up 
for  a  moment  or  two  from  table,  to  propose 
Sir  Joseph's  health. — From  the  tavern  we  ad- 
journed to  the  apartments  of  the  Royal  So- 
ciety in  "Somerset  House,  where  the  distin- 
guished stranger,  who  had  been  balloted  for 
on  the  preceding  Thursday,  was  admitted  a 
Fellow,  as  a  sovereign  prince,  by  the  title  of 
Duke  de  Lowitz.  The  President  addressed 
him  as  Prince  Primate  of  Poland;  and  he  was 
styled  in  the  minutes,  "  His  Highness  Prince 
Michael  Poniatowsky,  Prince  Primate  of  Po- 
land, Archbishop  of  Gnesna,  and  sovereign  of 
the  principality  of  Lowitz." 

When  the  meeting  broke  up,  my  master  ac- 
companied a  very  intelligent  friend  and  Phy- 
sician in  his  carriage  home,  and  the  discourse 


206  PITCAIRN. 

naturally  turned  to  the  subject  of  the  eminent 
foreigner  whom  they  had  that  evening  seen. 
"  You  know,"  said  Dr.  Samuel  Foart  Sim- 
mons, "  that  the  Prince  is  the  brother  of  the 
present  King  of  Poland,  and  since  his  arrival 
in  England  I  have  seen  a  great  deal  of  him,  as 
he  has  done  me  the  honour  of  inviting  me  fre- 
quently to  his  table.  The  motive  of  his  visit 
to  England  at  this  moment  is,  to  absent  him- 
self during  the  present  session  of  the  Diet, 
that  he  may  avoid  all  interference  in  the  ques- 
tion now  agitated,  relative  to  the  succession. 
My  introduction  to  him  was  through  Dr. 
Szaster,  a  Polish  Physician,  whom  the  Prince 
had  met  at  Paris,  and  who  is  much  esteemed 
by  him,  and  who  was  recommended  to  me  by 
some  of  my  friends.  My  first  visit  to  His 
Highness,  at  his  house,  No.  11,  Soho  Square, 
which  had  been  taken  ready  furnished  for 
him,  was  in  company  with  Dr.  Grieve,  who 
from  his  residence  in  Russia  and  Poland,  and 
his  consequent  acquaintance  with  the  lan- 
guages and  customs  of  those  parts  of  Europe, 
has  rendered  himself  very  agreeable  and 
highly  useful.  As  a  Polish  dinner  given  in 
London  was  quite  a  novelty  to  myself,  and 


PITCAIRN.  207 

perhaps  may  be  so  to  you,  I  will  describe  it 
minutely.  I  was  invited  for  four  o'clock,  and 
our  party  consisted  of  six:  before  we  sat  down 
to  table  a  glass  of  Dantzick  liqueur  was 
handed  round  on  a  waiter,  with  which,  as  a 
foreign  custom,  we  readily  complied. 

"  On  taking  our  seats,  the  Prince  placed 
himself  at  the  head,  and  I  took  a  chair  on  his 
right  hand,  while  His  Highness's  Physician 
sat  at  the  bottom  and  carved.  Two  dishes  of 
oysters  were  first  placed  on  the  table,  and  a 
servant  then  handed  round  a  plate  of  lemons, 
cut  into  halves.  I  was  going  to  drink  a  glass 
of  wine  with  Dr.  Grieve,  for  decanters  of  wine 
stood  on  the  table  near  us;  but  the  Prince 
pleasantly  observed,  that  he  hoped^  as  Phy- 
sicians we  would  excuse  him  if  he  reminded 
us  of  an  old  Polish  opinion,  that  beer  and  not 
wine  should  be  drunk  immediately  after  oys- 
ters. When  the  oysters  were  taken  away,  a 
tureen  of  soup,  called  by  the  Poles  bosch, 
made  of  milk  and  beet-root,  and  having  an  acid 
smell,  was  placed  at  top,  bouilli  at  bottom,  and 
a  dish  of  boiled  tongue,  sliced  and  mixed  with 
vegetables,  in  the  middle.  The  Physician  cut 
slices  of  the  bouilli  into  the  dish,  which  a  serv- 


208  PITCAIRN. 

ant  carried  round  to  the  company:  the  same 
ceremony  was  also  observed  with  respect  to 
the  other  dish.  Then  slices  of  buttered 
French  roll,  covered  with  a  chocolate-coloured 
powder,  which  I  understood  to  be  grated  hare, 
were  handed  about. — After  the  second  course, 
which  consisted  of  fritters,  roast  turkey,  and 
some  made  dish  in  the  middle,  the  dessert  was 
put  upon  the  table,  and  the  servants  withdrew. 
The  Prince  was  in  excellent  humour,  ex- 
tremely communicative,  and  the  conversation 
became  interesting. 

"  He  had  dined  a  few  days  before  with  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  had  told  him 
an  anecdote  which  had  pleased  him  so  much, 
that  he  had  communicated  it  in  a  letter  he 
had  just  written,  and  which  was  going  by  the 
next  post  to  Poland.  Before  he  sealed  his 
letter,  His  Highness  read  that  part  of  it  to  us. 
It  related  to  a  dramatic  writer  whose  play 
had  been  a  good  deal  applauded,  and  who  was 
informed  that  on  a  particular  night  a  great 
philosopher  and  mathematician  was  to  be  pres- 
ent at  its  performance.  '  This,'  said  the  au- 
thor, '  is  the  man  for  me :  I  shall  long  to  hear 
what  he  says  of  my  play.     The  opinion  of 


PITCAIRN.  209 

such  a  judge  will  be  really  worth  having.' 
The  mathematician  took  his  seat  in  the  centre 
of  the  pit;  and  when  the  performance  was 
over,  the  author  was  anxious  to  have  his 
opinion  of  the  piece.  '  I  find,'  said  the  philo- 
sopher, '  that  such  an  actress  has  pronounced 
3284  words,  that  such  an  actor  has  pro- 
nounced 2864,'  &c. ;  and  this  was  the  only  re- 
ply that  the  mortified  dramatist  could  obtain. 
"  The  Prince  continued  his  amusing  anec- 
dotes, and  related  to  us  that  one  of  his  brothers 
had  engaged  a  Frenchman  as  a  pastry-cook, 
in  which  art  he  greatly  excelled,  but  who  was 
so  drunken  a  fellow  that  a  sentinel  was  always 
placed  at  the  door  to  prevent  his  getting 
strong  liquors  before  he  had  finished -his  work. 
At  length,  however,  his  frequent  intoxication 
became  intolerable,  and  it  was  necessary  to 
discard  him.  He  went  to  Dantzick,  where  he 
found  a  vessel  bound  to  Petersburgh,  in  which 
he  embarked;  and,  on  his  arrival  in  that  city, 
accidentally  heard  of  a  nobleman  near  Mos- 
cow, who  was  in  want  of  a  preceptor  for  his 
son.  The  pdtissier  offered  his  services,  was 
accepted,  and  travelled  in  an  elegant  coach 
to  his  destination.     Of  Italian,  which  he  was 


210  PITCAIRN. 

to  teach,  he  knew  not  a  word;  but  being  a 
native  of  Provence,  he  spoke  the  dialect  of 
that  part  of  France.  This  he  taught  his  pupil, 
and  was  for  some  time  in  great  credit.  But 
the  nobleman  having  at  length  a  visitor  who 
spoke  Italian,  the  impostor  was  detected,  and 
he  was  ignominiously  driven  out  of  the  family. 
For  some  months  he  rambled  about  Tartary, 
and  lived  on  the  hospitality  of  different 
hordes;  but  after  an  absence  of  more  than 
two  years,  finding  his  way  back  into  Poland, 
he  threw  himself  at  the  feet  of  his  old  master, 
and  was  taken  again  into  his  service,  upon 
promising  better  behaviour  in  future. 

"  We  now  adjourned  to  another  room,  and 
drank  our  coffee,  after  which  frankincense  was 
burned  before  the  Prince,  who  expressed  a 
wish  that  we  should  not  be  in  a  hurry  to  de- 
part. In  the  course  of  the  evening  it  ap- 
peared that  he  did  not  think  very  favourably 
of  the  English  writing  travellers ;  particularly 
"  ces  gouverneurs,"  as  he  called  them,  who 
eagerly  catch  up  every  thing  they  hear  in  con- 
versation, for  the  sake  of  printing  it.  The  Eng- 
lish minister  at  Warsaw  had  observed  to  him, 
that  he  found  himself  oftentimes  situated  awk- 


PITCAIRN.  211 

wardly  enough  with  his  raw  young  country- 
men ;  but  that  this  was  nothing  when  compared 
with  the  trouble  he  had  when  they  came  accom- 
panied with  a  travelling  pedant  as  their  tutor. 

"  Speaking  of  his  brother,  His  Highness 
told  us  that  he  could  speak  English  before 
his  arrival  in  this  country,  which  was  in  1754 ; 
and  added  that  George  the  Second,  upon  being 
informed  that  the  King  of  Poland  had  re- 
mained a  certain  number  of  months  at  Paris, 
previous  to  his  coming  to  England,  asked 
why  His  Majesty  had  stayed  there  so  long. 
'  To  learn  English,'  was  the  reply. 

"  The  conversation  having  turned  on  Rus- 
sia, the  Prince  spoke  of  a  certain  courtier 
there,  who,  when  Biron  was  disgraced,  said, 
'  Ay,  that  fellow  was  the  cause  of  my  losing 
two  of  my  teeth.'  '  How  so? '  said  somebody. 
<  Why,  because  a  dentist  came  here  whom  he 
patronised;  and  in  order  to  pay  my  court  to 
Biron,  I  sent  for  that  man  to  draw  two  of 
my  teeth.'  We  next  talked  of  Potemkin,  who 
is  said  to  have  seduced  five  or  six  of  his  nieces, 
one  after  the  other,  and  then  to  have  married 
them  off,  except  the  youngest,  who  is  now  his 
mistress.     He  has  the  reputation  of  having 


212  PITCAIRN. 

always  kept  up  his  influence  with  the  empress, 
notwithstanding  her  favours  have  been  be- 
stowed on  so  many  others  since  his  time,  and 
of  having  always  contrived  to  get  his  succes- 
sors discarded  whenever  he  found  them  ac- 
quiring too  much  power.  Before  we  left,  the 
Prince  desired  his  secretary  to  bring  out  his 
orders :  viz.  his  Order  of  the  White  Eagle,  and 
that  of  Malta,  both  in  brilliants,  the  latter  of 
which  was  most  admirably  set." 

Here  the  Doctor  left  off  speaking,  and  we 
reached  home. 

Prince  Poniatowsky  remained  in  England 
till  June  13th,  when  he  set  out  on  his  return 
to  Warsaw.  On  his  way  through  Holland 
he  received  intelligence  of  the  revolution  in 
Poland.  The  journey  he  had  undertaken  had 
originated  in  the  circumstances  which  had 
paved  the  way  for  this  event.  At  the  open- 
ing of  the  Diet,  he  had  pronounced  a  dis- 
course which  had  directed  the  eyes  of  his  coun- 
trymen to  their  real  political  situation,  and 
this  had  gained  him  many  enemies.  He  was 
now  going  back  to  share  in  the  shortlived  gen- 
eral joy.  For  this  sudden  and  ill-concerted 
attempt  to  withdraw  the  kingdom  of  Poland 


PITCAIRN.  213 

from  under  the  influence  of  Russia  ultimately 
involved  the  exhausted  republic  in  an  unpros- 
perous  war,  and  was  shortly  afterwards  fol- 
lowed by  the  loss  of  the  fine  and  fertile  prov- 
inces of  the  Lesser  Poland  and  Lithuania  *. 

*  The  fate  of  Poland  is  well  known.  The  destiny  of 
the  family  bearing  the  name  of  Poniatowsky  has  been 
equally  disastrous.  At  the  battle  of  Leipsic,  wounded, 
and  while  covering  the  retreat  of  the  French  army,  in 
attempting  to  leap  the  narrow  stream  which  flows  past 
that  city,  Prince  Joseph  Poniatowsky  fell,  and  was 
drowned.  A  simple  monument  is  erected  to  him  in  a 
garden,  on  the  bank  of  the  river  where  he  perished,  with 
this  inscription  upon  it: 

Hie 

In  Undis  Elystri 

Josephus  Poniatowsky 

Princeps 

Summus  Exercitus  Polonorum  Praefectus, 

Imperii  Gallici  Mareschallus,  Tribus  Vulneribus 

Letiferis  acceptis,  Ultimus  ex  Acie  discedens 

Dum  receptum  magni  Gallorum  Exercitus  tuetur, 

Vita  Gloriae  et  Patriae  sacrata  functus  est 

Die  19  Octobris,  An.  1813, 

Anno  iEtatis  Impleto  52. 


Popularis  Populari,  Duci  Miles, 

Hoc  Monumentum,  Lachyrmis  suis  irrigatum, 

Posuit 

Alexander  Rozniecki. 


214.  PITCAIRN. 

The  success  of  Dr.  Pitcairn  in  practice  was 
great,  and  though  one  or  two  other  Physicians 
might  possibly  derive  more  pecuniary  emolu- 
ment than  himself,  certainly  no  one  was  so 
frequently  requested  by  his  brethren  to  afford 
his  aid  in  cases  of  difficulty.  He  was  per- 
fectly candid  in  his  opinions,  and  very  frank 
in  acknowledging  the  extent  of  his  confidence 
in  the  efficacy  of  medicine.  To  a  young 
friend,  who  had  very  recently  graduated,  and 
who  had  accompanied  him  from  London  to 
visit  a  lady,  ill  of  a  consumption,  in  the  coun- 
try, and  who,  on  their  return,  was  expressing 
his  surprise  at  the  apparent  inertness  of  the 
prescription,  which  had  been  left  behind, 
(which  was  nothing  more  than  infusion  of 
roses,  with  a  little  additional  mineral  acid), 
he  made  this  reply,  "The  last  thing  a  phy- 
sician learns,  in  the  course  of  his  experience, 
is  to  know  when  to  do  nothing,  but  quietly  to 
wait,  and  allow  nature  and  time  to  have  fair 
play,  in  checking  the  progress  of  disease,  and 
gradually  restoring  the  strength  and  health 
of  the  patient." 

The  extensive  practice  of  my  master  neces- 


PITCAIRN.  215 

sarily  brought  me  in  contact  with  every  phy- 
sician of  any  eminence,  of  whom  the  most 
prominent  was  unquestionably  that  profound 
and  elegant  scholar,  Sir  George  Baker,  the 
soundness  of  whose  judgment  was  acknowl- 
edged by  all.  To  him  the  whole  medical  world 
looked  up  with  respect,  and  in  the  treatment 
of  any  disease  in  the  least  degree  unusual, 
if  it  was  desired  to  know  all  that  had  ever 
been  said  or  written  on  the  subject,  from  the 
most  remote  antiquity,  down  to  the  case  in 
question,  a  consultation  was  proposed  with 
Sir  George  Baker.  From  his  erudition  every 
thing  was  expected.  He  was  particularly 
kind  to  the  rising  members  of  his  profes- 
sion, whom  he  encouraged  and  informed 
with  great  condescension  and  apparent  inter- 
est. He  was  a  native  of  Devonshire,  was  edu- 
cated at  Eton,  and,  afterwards,  at  King's 
College,  Cambridge.  The  accuracy  and  ex- 
tent of  his  classical  learning  particularly  en- 
gaged the  respect  and  admiration  of  the  mem- 
bers of  those  institutions;  and  to  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Devonshire  he  rendered  a  signal  serv- 
ice, by  pointing  out  the  source  of  that  species 


216  PITCAIRN. 

of  colic  and  subsequent  palsy,  which  had  long 
been  the  bane  of  that  county.  It  was  re- 
ported at  the  time  of  the  publication  of  his 
"  Essay  concerning  the  Cause  of  the  Endemial 
Colic  of  Devonshire,"  that  the  farmers  were 
much  annoyed  at  his  discovery;  but  every 
prejudice  was  at  length  overcome  by  the  force 
of  truth;  and  the  use  of  lead  in  the  construc- 
tion of  their  cider  vessels,  which  he  clearly 
demonstrated  to  be  the  cause  of  that  malady, 
has  since  been  discontinued  *. 

Sir  George  Baker  commenced  his  profes- 
sional career  at  Stamford,  in  Lincolnshire,  to 
which  place  he  had  been  invited  by  a  large 
circle  of  friends  whom  he  had  known  in  early 
life;  but  this  was  a  situation  too  limited  for 
the  exertion  of  his  talents,  and  he  soon  re- 
moved to  London.  In  the  metropolis  it  was 
not  long  before  he  arrived  at  very  extensive 
practice  and  reputation,  and  he  was  appointed 
Physician  to  Their  Majesties.     His  character, 

*  The  benefit  conferred  upon  his  countrymen  by  this 
discovery  was  thus  spoken  of  in  an  Harveian  oration, 
delivered  1809: — Quod  si  unum  civem  qui  servasset, 
corona  quondam  civili  esset  donandus;  quid  ille  meruit, 
qui  totam  provinciam  in  salutem  vindicavit? 


PITCAIRN.  217 

his  learning,  and  his  authority  rendered  him 
for  several  years  a  distinguished  President  of 
the  College  of  Physicians.  As  an  author,  he 
must  be  estimated  rather  by  the  value  than 
the  extent  of  his  works;  for  his  Thesis  de  af- 
fectibus  Animi,  published  as  an  exercise  at 
Cambridge  in  1755,  his  Harveian  Oration,  and 
his  two  treatises,  de  Catarrho  Epidemico  and 
de  Dysenteria  Londinensi,  are  models  of  the 
purest  and  chastest  classical  style.  With 
studious  habits,  and  unassuming  manners,  he 
combined  great  playfulness  of  imagination, 
as  will  appear  from  the  two  following  speci- 
mens of  Latin  pleasantry. 

Epigram  on  two  brothers  who  applied  to 
Sir  George  Baker  for  advice  nearly  at  the 
same  time: 

Hos  inter  fratres  quantum  disconvenit !  alter 
Corpus  ali  prohibet,  se  nimis  alter  alit; 

Hinc  ambo  segrotant;  sed  non  est  causa  timoris; 
Nam  penes  est  ipsos  certa  utriusque  salus. 

Cautus  uterque  suam  mutet,  me  judice,  vitam; 
Huic  cibus,  ast  illi  sit  medicina  fames. 

Which  may  be  thus  rendered  in  English: 

Behold  two  brothers,  how  unlike  their  state! 
One's  too  indulgent,  one  too  temperate; 


218  PITCAIRN. 

Hence  both  are  sick;  but  let  not  this  alarm  them, 
The  cure  is  in  themselves,  and  will  not  harm  them. 
Let  me  prescribe,  with  caution,  to  each  brother, 
Food  for  the  one,  and  fasting  for  the  other. 

On  Mrs.  Vanbutchel,  who  was  preserved  as 
a  Mummy  at  the  request  of  her  husband,  he 
wrote  the  following  inscription.  Under  the 
superintendence  of  Dr.  Hunter,  Mr.  Cruik- 
shank  injected  into  the  arteries  spirits  of  tur- 
pentine, coloured  by  vermilion.  She  died  at 
the  age  of  forty,  and  her  body,  thus  prepared, 
was  kept  by  her  husband  in  his  own  house  dur- 
ing his  lifetime ;  at  his  death,  his  son  presented 
it  to  the  College  of  Surgeons,  where  it  is  now 
to  be  seen  in  a  mahogany  case. 

In  reliquias  Marise  Vanbutchel,  novo  miraculo  con- 
servatas,  et  a  marito  suo  superstite,  cultu  quotidiano 
adoratas : — 

Hie,  expers  tumuli,  jacet 
Uxor  Joannis  Vanbutchel, 
Integra  omnino  et  incorrupta, 
Viri  sui  amantissimi 
Desiderium  simul  et  deliciae; 
Hanc  gravi  morbo  vitiatam 
Consumtamque  tandem  longa  morte 
In  hunc,  quern  cernis,  nitorem, 


PITCAIRN.  219 

In  hanc  speciem  et  colorem  viventis 

Ab  indecora  putredine  vindicavit 

Invita  et  repugnante  natura 

Vir  egregius,  Gulielmus  Hunterus, 

Artificii  prius  intentati 

Inventor  idem,  et  perfector. 

O  fortunatum  maritum 
Cui  datur 
Uxorem  multum  amatam 
Retinere  una  in  unis  aedibus, 
Affari,  tangere,  complecti, 
Propter  dormire,  si  lubet, 
Non  fatis  modo  superstitem 
Sed  (quod  pluris  sestimandum 
Nam,  non  est  vivere,  sed  placere,  vita) 

Etiam  suaviorem 
Venustiorem 
Habitiorem 
Sobdam  magis,  et  magis  succi  plenam 
Quam  cum  ipsa  in  vivis  fuerit ! 
O !  fortunatum  hominem  et  invidendum 
Cui  peculiare  hoc,  et  proprium  contingit 
Apud  se  habere  faeminam 
Non  variam,  non  mutabilem 

Et  egregie  taciturnam ! 

This  epitaph  was  first  given  imperfectly  to 
the  public  in  Franklin's  translation  of  Lu- 
cian,  and,  certainly,  without  the  consent  of  the 
author. 


220 


PITCAIRN. 


* 


To  return  to  Dr.  David  Pitcairn:  his  man- 
ner was  simple,  gentle,  and  dignified;  from 
his  kindness  of  heart,  he  was  frequently  led 
to  give  more  attention  to  his  patients  than 
could  well  be  demanded  from  a  physician ;  and 
as  this  evidently  sprung  from  no  interested 
motive,  he  often  acquired  considerable  influ- 
ence with  those  whom  he  had  attended  dur- 
ing sickness.     No  medical  man,  indeed,  of  his 

*  Dr.  David  Pitcairn. 


PITCAIRN.  221 

eminence  in  London  perhaps  ever  exercised 
his  profession  to  such  a  degree  gratuitously. 
Besides,  few  persons  ever  gained  so  extensive 
an  acquaintance  with  the  various  orders  of 
society.  He  associated  much  with  gentle- 
men of  the  law,  had  a  taste  for  the  fine  arts, 
and  his  employment  as  a  physician  in  the  larg- 
est hospital  in  the  kingdom,  made  known  to 
him  a  very  great  number  of  persons  of  every 
rank  and  description  in  life.  His  person  was 
tall  and  erect;  his  countenance  during  youth 
was  a  model  of  manly  beauty,  and  even  in 
advanced  life  he  was  accounted  remarkably 
handsome.  But  the  prosperous  views  that  all 
these  combined  advantages  might  reasonably 
open  to  him  were  not  of  long  endurance. 

Ill  health  obliged  him  to  give  up  his  pro- 
fession and  quit  his  native  country.  He  em- 
barked for  Lisbon  in  the  summer  of  1798, 
where  a  stay  of  eighteen  months  in  the  mild 
climate  of  Portugal,  during  which  period 
there  was  no  recurrence  of  the  spitting  of 
blood  with  which  he  had  been  affected,  em- 
boldened him  to  return  to  England,  and  for 
a  few  years  more  resume  the  practice  of  his 
profession.     But  his  health  continued  delicate 


222  PITCAIRN. 

and  precarious,  and  in  the  spring  of  the  year 
1809  he  fell  a  victim  to  a  disease  that  had 
hitherto  escaped  the  observation  of  medical 
men.  Pitcairn,  though  he  had  acquired  great 
practical  knowledge,  and  had  made  many 
original  observations  upon  the  history  and 
treatment  of  diseases,  never  published  any 
thing  himself;  but  the  peculiar  and  melan- 
choly privilege  was  reserved  for  him,  to  en- 
lighten his  profession  in  the  very  act  of  dying. 
On  the  13th  of  April,  he  complained  of  a 
soreness  in  his  throat;  which,  however,  he 
thought  so  lightly  of,  that  he  continued  his 
professional  visits  during  that  and  the  two 
following  days.  In  the  night  of  the  15th  his 
throat  became  worse,  in  consequence  of  which 
he  was  copiously  bled,  at  his  own  desire,  and 
had  a  large  blister  applied  over  his  throat. 
On  the  evening  of  the  16th  Dr.  Baillie  called 
upon  him  accidentally,  not  having  been  ap- 
prized of  his  illness;  and,  indeed,  even  then, 
observed  no  symptom  that  indicated  danger. 
But  the  disease  advanced  in  the  course  of  that 
night,  and  a  number  of  leeches  were  applied 
to  the  throat  early  in  the  morning.  At  eleven 
o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  Dr.  Baillie  again  saw 


PITCAIRN.  223 

him.  His  countenance  was  now  sunk,  his 
pulse  feeble  and  unequal,  his  breathing  la- 
borious, and  his  voice  nearly  gone.  In  this 
lamentable  state,  he  wrote  upon  a  piece  of 
paper,  that  he  conceived  his  windpipe  to  be 
the  principal  seat  of  his  complaint,  and  that 
this  was  the  croup.  The  tonsils  were  punc- 
tured, some  blood  obtained,  and  a  little  relief 
appeared  to  have  been  derived  from  the  opera- 
tion. Between  four  and  five  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  his  situation  seemed  considerably 
improved ;  but  soon  afterwards  a  slight  drowsi- 
ness came  on.  At  eight,  the  patient's  breath- 
ing became  suddenly  more  difficult,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  he  was  dead.  This  was  the  first 
case  of  this  peculiar  affection  of  the  throat  that 
has  been  distinctly  recognised  and  described. 
It  was  an  inflammation  of  the  larynx,  or  upper 
part  of  the  windpipe,  of  so  insidious  a  nature 
as  hitherto  to  have  passed  unnoticed. 

Although  approaching  to  the  well-known 
complaint  called  croup,  it  differs  in  some  re- 
spects, particularly  by  the  presence  of  the 
following  symptoms : — Painful  deglutition, 
partial  swelling  of  the  fauces,  and  a  perpet- 
ually increasing  difficulty  of  breathing.     The 


224  PITCAIRN. 

mouth  of  the  larynx,  or  aperture  by  which  air 
is  admitted  into  the  lungs,  is  so  much  nar- 
rowed, that  the  vital  functions  are  actually 
extinguished  by  the  stricture.  And  yet  the 
apparent  inflammation  in  the  throat  is  so  in- 
considerable, that  upon  a  superficial  observa- 
tion, it  would  hardly  be  noticed;  but  in  its 
progress  the  voice  is  changed,  becomes  alto- 
gether suppressed,  and  the  disease  terminates 
in  suffocation. 


BAILLIE. 


CHAPTER  V. 


The  mother  of  Dr.  Baillie  was  the  sister 
of  John  Hunter,  the  celebrated  anatomist  and 
physiologist.  From  the  university  of  Glas- 
gow, he  went,  in  1780,  to  Balliol  College,  Ox- 
ford, where  he  graduated,  and  settled  early  in 
London,  under  the  immediate  superintend- 
ence of  his  other  maternal  uncle,  Dr.  William 
Hunter.  Following  the  example  of  his  dis- 
tinguished relations,  he  became  himself  a 
teacher  of  anatomy  in  1785 ;  and  he  continued 


226  BAILLIE. 

to  lecture  for  nearly  twenty  years.  In  de- 
livering his  lectures,  he  expressed  himself  with 
great  clearness,  and  conveyed  his  information 
to  his  pupils  in  the  most  simple  and  intelligible 
language.  For  this  talent  he  was  greatly  in- 
debted to  the  assiduous  instruction  of  his 
uncle,  who  spared  no  pains  in  cultivating  in 
his  young  pupil  a  habit  of  ready  and  exact  ex- 
planation; and  was  accustomed  to  teach  him 
in  this  manner:  "  Matthew,  do  you  know  any 
thing  of  to-day's  lecture?"  demanded  Dr. 
Hunter  of  his  nephew.  "  Yes,  sir,  I  hope  I 
do."  "  Well,  then,  demonstrate  to  me." 
"  I  will  go  and  fetch  the  preparation,  sir." 
"  Oh!  no,  Matthew,  if  you  know  the  subject 
really,  you  will  know  it  whether  the  prepara- 
tion be  absent  or  present."  Dr.  Hunter  then 
stood  with  his  back  to  the  fire,  and  his  nephew 
demonstrated.  Thus  was  the  young  student 
encouraged  by  approbation  and  assistance,  or 
immediately  convicted  of  loose  and  inaccurate 
information. 

His  work  or  morbid  anatomy,  published  in 
1793,  was  dedicated  by  him  to  his  friend  Dr. 
David  Pitcairn,  as  a  testimony  of  high  esteem 
for  his  character,  and  of  gratitude  for  many 


BAILLIE.  227 

kind  offices.  The  splendid  engravings  which 
were  afterwards  published  as  illustrations  of 
this  work,  were  alike  creditable  to  his  own 
taste  and  liberality,  and  to  the  state  of  the 
arts  in  this  country. 

When  I  passed  from  the  hands  of  Pitcairn 
into  the  possession  of  Dr.  Baillie,  I  ceased  to 
be  considered  any  longer  as  a  necessary  ap- 
pendage of  the  profession,  and  consequently 
the  opportunities  I  enjoyed  of  seeing  the 
world,  or  even  of  knowing  much  about  the 
state  of  physic,  were  very  greatly  abridged, 
and  but  of  rare  occurrence. 

Once  only  was  I  introduced  into  a  large 
party.  It  was  on  a  Sunday  evening,  when  I 
was  taken  to  one  of  the  scientific- meetings, 
held  at  the  house  of  Sir  Joseph  Banks  in  Soho 
Square.  How  different  from  the  gay  conver- 
saziones in  Ormond  Street,  in  the  spacious  li- 
brary of  Dr.  Mead,  filled  with  splendid  books, 
and  ornamented  with  antiques  of  the  most 
costly  description!  On  entering  the  house  of 
Sir  Joseph,  I  was  ushered  up  a  sort  of  back 
staircase,  and  introduced  into  two  gloomy 
apartments,  in  the  farther  corner  of  the  first 
of  which  sat  the  President  of  the  Royal  So- 


228  BAILLIE. 

ciety,  wearing  the  red  riband  of  the  Order  of 
the  Bath,  in  a  gouty  chair.  Here  I  was 
passed  from  one  to  the  other,  and  considered 
rather  as  a  curious  relic,  than  regarded,  as 
I  was  wont  to  be,  as  the  support  and  orna- 
ment of  the  faculty.  My  only  consolation 
arose,  as  I  was  handed  about,  from  the  obser- 
vation, which  it  was  impossible  not  to  make, 
that  among  the  philosophers  present  there  was 
a  great  proportion  of  medical  men,  who  ex- 
amined me,  as  may  be  supposed,  with  more 
than  ordinary  interest.  Among  others,  I  did 
not  escape  the  keen  and  scrutinizing  eye  of  a 
physician  who  then  held  the  office  of  Secre- 
tary to  the  Royal  Society,  who  early  relin- 
quished the  practice  of  his  profession  for  other 
pursuits,  but  whose  name  is  identified  with 
the  history  of  modern  chemistry,  and  will  live 
as  long  as  science  shall  be  cultivated. 

From  what  has  been  stated  of  the  condi- 
tion to  which  I  was  now  reduced,  it  will  be 
inferred,  that  it  was  chiefly  from  the  position 
which  I  occupied  in  the  corner  of  the  room  in 
which  Dr.  Baillie  received  his  patients  at  home, 
that  I  became  at  all  acquainted  with  what  was 
going  on  in  medicine. 


BAILLIE.  229 

My  present  was  the  very  reverse,  in  almost 
every  particular,  of  my  early  master,  Dr.  Rad- 
cliffe.  In  person,  Dr.  Baillie  was  consider- 
ably below  the  middle  size,  with  a  countenance 
rather  plain  than  prepossessing,  a  Scotch  dia- 
lect, and  blunt  manners.  Than  his  first  ad- 
dress nothing  could  be  less  imposing;  and  yet, 
before  he  had  been  in  company  with  you  for 
five  minutes,  he  would  have  convinced  you 
that  he  was  one  of  the  most  sensible,  clear- 
headed physicians  you  had  ever  listened  to. 

From  his  habit  of  public  lecturing,  he  had 
acquired  two  great  advantages;  First,  a  mi- 
nute and  accurate  knowledge  of  the  structure 
of  the  human  body;  and,  Second,  the  most 
perfect  distinctness  and  excellent  arrange- 
ment, in  what  may  be  called  the  art  of  state- 
ment. For  this  latter  quality  he  was  very  re- 
markable; and  even  when  he  was  compelled 
to  relinquish  lecturing  (by  which  he  had  ac- 
quired it),  in  consequence  of  the  growing  ex- 
tent of  his  practice,  it  continued  to  be  of  daily 
advantage  to  him.  In  examining  a  patient, 
for  the  purpose  of  learning  the  symptoms  of 
the  complaint,  the  questions  he  put  were  so 
few  as  to  give  an  impression  of  haste  and  care- 


230  BAILLIE. 

lessness;  in  conversing  on  the  case  with  the 
physician  whom  he  met  in  consultation,  he 
was  very  short  and  clear;  and  it  was  not  until 
the  relations  or  friends  of  the  patient  were  ad- 
mitted, and  he  proceeded  to  communicate  to 
them  the  result  of  the  consultation,  that  he 
appeared  to  full  advantage.  He  then  gave 
a  short  practical  lecture,  not  merely  on  the 
symptoms  of  the  patient,  but  on  the  disease 
generally,  in  which  all  that  was  known  on  the 
subject  was  brought  to  bear  on  the  individual 
case,  and  in  doing  this,  his  utterance  was  so 
deliberate,  that  it  was  easy  to  follow  him.  His 
explanations  were  so  concise,  that  they  al- 
ways excited  attention,  and  never  tired;  and 
the  simplicity  of  the  language  in  which  they 
were  conveyed,  where  all  technical  terms  were 
studiously  avoided,  rendered  them  perfectly 
intelligible. 

It  was  a  maxim  with  him,  that  the  most 
successful  treatment  of  patients  depended 
upon  the  exertion  of  sagacity  or  good  common 
sense,  guided  by  a  competent  professional 
knowledge,  and  not  by  following  strictly  the 
rules  of  practice  laid  down  in  books,  even  by 
men  of  the  greatest  talents  and  experience. 


BAILLIE.  231 

"  It  is  very  seldom,"  was  he  used  to  say,  "  that 
diseases  are  found  pure  and  unmixed,  as  they 
are  commonly  described  by  authors ;  and  there 
is  almost  an  endless  variety  of  constitutions. 
The  treatment  must  be  adapted  to  this  mix- 
ture and  variety,  in  order  to  be  as  successful 
as  circumstances  will  permit;  and  this  allows 
of  a  very  wide  field  for  the  exercise  of  good 
common  sense  on  the  part  of  the  physician." 
In  his  view  of  the  case  of  a  patient,  he  se- 
lected the  leading  features  of  the  subject,  and 
neglecting  all  minor  details,  he  systematically 
abstained  from  touching  upon  any  thing  in- 
genious, subtle,  or  far-fetched.  Hence,  in  the 
treatment  of  disease,  he  was  not  fertile  in  ex- 
pedients, but  aimed  at  the  fulfilment  of  a  few 
leading  indications,  by  the  employment  of  the 
simplest  means;  if  these  failed,  he  was  often 
at  a  loss  what  to  do  next,  and  had  not  the 
talent,  for  which  some  are  distinguished,  of 
varying  his  prescription  every  day,  so  as  to 
retain  the  confidence  and  keep  alive  the  ex- 
pectation of  the  patient.  But  this  peculiarity 
of  mind,  which  was  perhaps  a  defect  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  was  a  great  advan- 
tage to  him  in  his  discourse,  and  rendered  him 


232  BAILLIE. 

unrivalled  as  a  lecturer.  After  writing  a  pre- 
scription, he  read  it  over  with  great  care  and 
consideration,  for  fear  of  having  committed  a 
mistake. 

During  his  latter  years,  when  he  had  re- 
tired from  all  but  consultation  practice,  and 
had  ample  time  to  attend  to  each  individual 
case,  he  was  very  deliberate,  tolerant,  and  will- 
ing to  listen  to  whatever  was  said  to  him  by 
the  patient;  but  when  in  the  hurry  of  great 
business,  when  his  day's  work,  as  he  was  used 
to  say,  amounted  to  seventeen  hours,  he  was 
sometimes  rather  irritable,  and  betrayed  a 
want  of  temper  in  hearing  the  tiresome  de- 
tails of  an  unimportant  story.  After  listen- 
ing, with  torture,  to  a  prosing  account  from 
a  lady,  who  ailed  so  little  that  she  was  going 
to  the  opera  that  evening,  he  had  happily 
escaped  from  the  room,  when  he  was  urgently 
requested  to  step  up  stairs  again;  it  was  to 
ask  him  whether,  on  her  return  from  the  opera, 
she  might  eat  some  oysters:  "Yes,  Ma'am," 
said  Baillie,  "  shells  and  all." 

As  I  was  not  present  on  this  occasion,  this 
story,  though  often  related,  may  possibly  not 
be  true;  and,  indeed,  I  cannot  suppose  that 


BAILLIE.  233 

so  experienced  a  practitioner  would  have 
treated  with  so  much  levity  the  important 
mystery  of  cookery.  To  judge  of  the  true 
skill  and  merit  of  a  Physician  requires  a  com- 
petent knowledge  of  the  science  of  medicine 
itself;  but  to  gain  the  good  opinion  of  the  pa- 
tient or  his  friends,  there  is,  perhaps,  no 
method  so  ready  as  to  show  expertness  in  the 
regulation  of  the  diet  of  the  sick.  Discretion 
and  judgment  will  of  course  be  required;  the 
rules  should  not  be  unnecessarily  severe  or 
rigid,  otherwise  they  will  not  be  followed;  but 
the  prudent  Physician  will  prescribe  such  laws 
as  though  not  the  best,  are  yet  the  best  that 
will  be  obeyed.  In  many  cases,  however,  it 
is  not  enough  to  say  "  you  must  avoid  meat, 
fermented  liquors,  or  pastry."  All  this  is  in- 
finitely too  vague,  too  general,  and  unsatis- 
factory; you  must  be  precise  and  peremptory 
about  trifles.  In  a  long  illness  the  mind  of 
the  patient  is  enfeebled,  the  invention  of  his 
attendants  has  been  exhausted,  and  they  all 
like  to  be  saved  the  trouble  and  effort  of 
thought;  the  Doctor  therefore  must  think  for 
them,  and  direct  the  diet  of  the  sick  as 
he  would  his  draught.     Besides  indicating  an 


234  BAILLIE. 

anxious  solicitude  for  the  comfort  of  the  in- 
valid, it  shows  a  nice  discrimination  of  the  vir- 
tues and  qualities  of  the  ordinary  articles  of 
food,  not  possessed  by  less  sagacious  persons. 

It  is  in  the  judicious  management  of  this 
branch  of  our  art  that  French  Physicians  par- 
ticularly excel.    Par  exemple: 

"  Le  dejeuner  consistera  en  the  froid,  ou 
eau  froide  sucree,  ou  non  sucree  avec  du  lait, 
et  du  pain  a  volonte.  Le  diner  permet  une 
ou  deux  portions  de  viande  fraiche,  tendire, 
du  pain  rassis  et  des  legumes  farineux. 

"  Le  vin  sera  mis  avec  Veau  pour  boisson, 
et  on  en  boira  un  seul  verre  pur  (de  Xeres) 
sur  la  fin  du  diner. 

ce  Les  patisseries,  la  graisse,  les  legumes 
venteux,  les  fruits,  sont  defendus. 

ee  Une  soupe  au  bouillon  ou  de  Veau  avec 
du  lait,  ou  du  the  et  du  pain  serviront  de 
souper." 

A  letter  of  directions  like  these,  though  fol- 
lowed by  the  prescription  of  nothing  more 
energetic  than  une  legere  infusion  de  feuilles 
d'oranger,  et  deux  demi  lavemens,  will  go  far- 
ther to  impress  upon  the  mind  of  his  patient  a 
high  opinion  of  the  skill  of  the  Doctor,  than 


BAILLIE.  235 

the  simple  and  efficient  practice  of  the  most 
judicious  and  honest  Physician  of  the  English 
school. 

If  this  be  true  in  ordinary  cases  of  sick- 
ness, it  is  more  especially  so  with  the  hypo- 
chondriac, or  with  those  whose  appetites  are 
jaded  by  a  long  course  of  indulgence.  To 
them  an  expert  Physician  will  say,  "  I  advise 
you  to  take  some  calves'-feet  jelly  made  with 
hock;  or  could  you  not  fancy  the  claw  of  a 
boiled  lobster,  with  a  little  butter  and  Cay- 
enne pepper? " 

But  I  have  few  adventures  to  relate;  my 
state  of  retirement  kept  me  in  an  almost  total 
ignorance  of  what  was  passing  in  the  great 
world.  It  may  therefore  be  a  fit  opportunity 
for  me  to  pause  a  little,  and  review,  for  a  mo- 
ment, the  progress  of  medicine  for  the  last 
hundred  and  fifty  years. 

Sydenham  died  the  very  year  I  became  con- 
nected with  the  profession;  him,  therefore,  I 
never  saw,  but  with  his  name  and  merits  I  soon 
became  abundantly  familiar.  He  has  been 
usually  styled  the  English  Hippocrates,  and 
with  reason,  for  there  is  a  great  resemblance 
between     their     characters.     Although     they 


236 


BAILLIE 


were  both  theorists,  and,  on  many  occasions, 
apparently  founded  their  practice  upon  their 
theories,  yet  they  were  still  more  attentive  to 
the  observation  of  facts,  and  seldom  permitted 
their  speculative  views  to  interfere  with  their 
treatment  of  their  patients.  In  opposition  to 
the  Physicians  of  his  time,  Sydenham  di- 
rected his  first  attention  to  the  careful  observa- 

*  This  bust  of  Sydenham  is  in  the  Censor's  Room. 


BAILLIE.  237 

tion  of  the  phenomena  of  disease,  and  chiefly 
employed  hypothesis  as  the  mere  vehicle  by 
which  he  conveyed  his  ideas.  His  merit  has 
been  justly  appreciated  by  posterity,  both  in 
his  own  country  and  among  foreigners;  and 
his  works  continue  to  this  day  to  be  a  stand- 
ard authority,  and  are  as  much  esteemed  after 
the  lapse  of  a  century  and  a  half,  as  they  were 
immediately  after  their  publication.  But  his 
skill  in  physic  was  not  his  highest  excellence, 
his  whole  character  was  amiable,  his  chief  view 
being  the  benefit  of  mankind,  and  the  chief  mo- 
tive of  his  actions  the  will  of  God.  He  was 
benevolent,  candid,  and  communicative,  sin- 
cere and  religious;  qualities  which  it  were 
happy  if  they  would  copy  from  Jiim,  who 
emulate  his  knowledge  and  imitate  his  meth- 
ods. 

Sydenham  died  at  his  house  in  Pall  Mall, 
on  the  29th  December,  1689,  and  was  buried 
in  the  aisle  near  the  south  door  of  the  church 
of  St.  James,  in  Westminster.  But  the  epi- 
taph that  indicated  the  spot  being  nearly 
obliterated,  the  College  of  Physicians  resolved 
at  their  general  quarterly  meeting,  (comitia 
majora  ordinaria)  held  December  22,  1809,  to 


238  BAILLIE. 

erect  a  mural  monument  as  near  as  possible  to 
the  place  of  interment,  within  that  church,  to 
the  memory  of  this  illustrious  man,  with  the 
following  inscription: 

Prope  hunc  Locum  sepultus  est 

Thomas  Sydenham, 

Medicus  in  omne  iEvum  nobilis. 

Natus  erat  A.  D.  1624, 

Vixit  Annos  65. 

Deletis  veteris  Sepulchri  Vestigiis, 

Ne  Rei  Memoria  interiret, 

Hoc  Marmor  poni  jussit  Collegium 

Regale  Medicorum  Londinense,  A.  D.  1810. 

Optime  Merito ! 

Amongst  the  direct  practical  improvements 
for  which  Society  is  indebted  to  Sydenham, 
is  the  employment  of  the  cooling  treatment 
in  small-pox. 

"  I  see  no  reason,"  said  he,  "  why  the  pa- 
tient should  be  kept  stifled  in  bed,  but  rather 
that  he  may  rise  and  sit  up  a  few  hours  every 
day,  provided  the  injuries  arising  from  the 
extremes  of  heat  and  cold  be  prevented,  both 
with  respect  to  the  place  wherein  he  lies,  and 
his  manner  of  clothing."  But  the  prejudices 
and  authority  of  his  contemporaries  opposed 


BAILLIE.  239 

the  immediate  introduction  of  this  natural 
method;  though  so  convinced  was  its  judi- 
cious and  discerning  author  of  its  propriety, 
that  he  foretold,  with  confidence,  its  ultimate 
universal  employment — obtinebit  demum  me 
vita  functo. 

The  prediction  has  been  completely  ful- 
filled; for  what  Sydenham  recommended,  the 
popularity  and  more  extensive  practice  of 
Radcliffe  soon  introduced  into  general  use, 
and  the  treatment  has  been  amply  sanctioned 
by  experience.  For,  strange  as  it  may  ap- 
pear, notwithstanding  the  estimation  in  which 
the  works  of  this  great  ornament  of  physic 
have  been  always  held,  he  made  no  powerful 
impression  himself  upon  the  general  state  of 
medicine,  nor  diverted  in  any  material  degree 
the  current  of  public  opinion  from  its  former 
channel.  The  mathematical  physicians,  who 
succeeded  him,  invented  new  theories,  more 
captivating  than  any  which  had  hitherto  ap- 
peared, and  the  full  effect  of  the  example  of 
Sydenham  was  for  some  time  lost  in  the  se- 
ductive influence  of  visionary  speculation. 

What  Mead  effected  in  the  improvement  of 
medicine,  by  contributing  so  materially  as  he 


240  BAILLIE. 

did  to  promote  the  practice  of  inoculation,  has 
been  already  mentioned. 

The  mechanical  systems  which,  for  some 
years  afterwards,  prevailed,  were  powerfully 
assailed  by  the  metaphysical  theory  of  Stahl, 
revolution  succeeded  to  revolution,  old  systems 
yielded  to  new  doctrines,  till  the  inductive 
philosophy  gradually  extended  itself  to  the 
study  of  the  animal  economy.  From  among 
the  various  authors  of  these  rival  systems,  it 
is  impossible  not  to  select  the  name  of  Boer- 
haave,  superior  perhaps  in  learning  and  in- 
formation, and  possessing  more  judgment 
than  any  of  them.  He  has  been  compared 
to  Galen,  being  endowed  with  the  same  ex- 
tensive range  of  knowledge  on  all  topics  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  connected  with  medicine, 
the  same  dexterity  in  availing  himself  of  the 
information  of  his  predecessors  or  contem- 
poraries, and  the  same  felicity  in  moulding 
these  separate  materials  into  one  consistent 
and  harmonious  whole.  By  his  great  assi- 
duity, his  acquaintance  with  chemistry  and 
botany,  in  short  with  every  department  con- 
nected with  medicine,  he  raised  the  University 
of  Leyden,  his  native  town,  to  the  rank  of 


BAILLIE.  241 

the  first  medical  school  in  Europe.  The 
next  name,  at  which  in  this  hasty  and  imper- 
fect sketch,  one  would  pause,  would  probably 
be  that  of  Haller,  whose  correct  description  of 
the  laws  of  the  muscular  and  nervous  systems 
gave  a  new  impulse  to  the  progress  of  pa- 
thology. 

Cullen,  who  occupied  the  medical  chair  in 
the  University  of  Edinburgh  for  a  long  series 
of  years,  was  a  man  of  a  shrewd  and  penetrat- 
ing genius,  and  for  some  time  his  doctrines, 
which  were  proposed  with  an  air  of  candour, 
and  even  with  a  spirit  of  philosophical  scep- 
ticism, received  almost  the  universal  assent  of 
his  contemporaries.  In  thus  approaching 
modern  times,  we  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  with 
the  great  change  that  has  taken  place  in  the 
general  character  of  the  systems  of  physic, 
which  has  been  effected  by  the  gradual  sub- 
stitution of  observation  and  experiment  for 
learning  and  scholastic  disputation.  No  one 
will  deny  that  the  result  of  this  change  has 
been  the  improvement  of  the  practice  of  our 
art;  hence  the  rate  of  mortality  has  decreased 
nearly  one-third,  within  the  last  forty  years, 
referable  to  the  more  temperate  habits  which 


242  BAILLIE. 

prevail  almost  uniformly  through  all  orders 
of  society,  to  the  entire  disappearance  or  miti- 
gated severity  of  many  fatal  diseases,  and, 
above  all,  to  the  substitution  of  Vaccination 
for  the  small-pox. 

It  was  in  the  year  1798  that  Jenner  pub- 
lished his  "  Inquiry  into  the  Causes  and  Ef- 
fects of  the  Variolas  Vaccinas,"  and  announced 
to  the  world  the  importanct  fact,  that  the  cow- 
pox  protects  the  human  constitution  from  the 
infection  of  small-pox. 

By  this  discovery  the  beauty  of  the  human 
race  has  been  greatly  improved,  and  the  ves- 
tiges of  the  small-pox  have  been  almost 
driven  away;  for  to  see  in  our  churches,  our 
theatres,  or  in  any  other  large  assemblage  of 
people,  a  young  person  bearing  the  marks  of 
that  disease  is  now  of  very  rare  occurrence. 
And  if  this  be  true  in  England,  where  every 
free-born  Englishman  values  himself  chiefly 
on  the  unquestioned  liberty  of  doing  what  is 
foolish  and  wrong,  without  the  dread  of  the 
least  control,  it  is  still  more  so  in  other  coun- 
tries of  Europe.  With  us,  crowds  of  the 
poor  go  unvaccinated,  permitted  not  only  to 
imbibe  the  small-pox  themselves,  but  to  be  at 


BAILLIE.  243 

large,  scattering  the  poison  on  those  whom 
they  chance  to  meet.  Whereas  abroad,  in 
most  of  the  other  parts  of  Europe,  vaccina- 
tion has  been  ordered  by  government;  no  one 
who  has  not  undergone  either  cow-pox  or 
small-pox  being  allowed  either  to  be  con- 
firmed, put  to  school,  apprenticed,  or  married. 
Before  the  introduction  of  inoculation, 
small-pox  killed  one  out  of  four  of  those  whom 
it  attacked;  that  method  changed  it  into  a 
disease  by  which  one  only  out  of  several  hun- 
dreds perished.  Vaccination,  by  the  excite- 
ment of  a  very  trifling  disorder,  imparted  a 
charmed  life,  over  which  the  small-pox  gen- 
erally seemed  to  have  no  influence ;  for  its  pro- 
tecting power  must  be  qualified.  It  is  fool- 
ish to  deny  that  the  pretensions  of  this  great 
discovery  were,  in  the  enthusiasm  of  the  mo- 
ment, somewhat  overrated;  but,  after  more 
than  twenty  years'  experience,  this  consoling 
truth  seems  finally  to  be  firmly  established, 
that  the  number  of  those  who  take  the  small- 
pox after  vaccination,  and  pass  through  a  safe 
and  harmless  disease,  is  not  greater  than  the 
number  of  those  who  used  to  die  under  in- 
oculation, namely,  one  in  three  hundred. 


244  BAILLIE. 

But  I  must  return  from  this  short  digres- 
sion, to  speak  of  the  benefits  conferred  by 
Dr.  Baillie  on  his  profession,  and  particularly 
of  his  donation  to  the  College,  of  which  he 
was  so  distinguished  an  ornament. 

In  1819  he  presented  to  that  body  his  en- 
tire collection  of  anatomical  preparations,  by 
far  the  greater  number  of  which  had  been 
made  by  his  own  hands,  and  from  which  he 
had  chiefly  selected  the  splendid  engravings 
that  illustrated  his  work  on  Anatomy. 

He  lived  only  four  years  after  this  donation, 
when  his  health  gradually  gave  way,  and 
though  a  hope  was  entertained,  that  the 
failure  of  his  strength  might  be  ascribed  to 
the  fatigue  of  business,  and  that  retirement 
would  afford  him  relief,  he  sensibly  and 
rapidly  sunk,  and  died  before  he  had  com- 
pleted his  sixty-third  year. 

His  bust  is  placed  in  the  College  of  Phy- 
sicians, and  the  President,  on  the  22d  Decem- 
ber, 1823,  having  announced  the  bequests  con- 
tained in  his  will,  consisting,  amongst  others, 
of  his  library,  read  the  following  observations 
on  the  medical  character  of  his  departed  friend 
and  colleague. 


BAILLIE. 


245 


"  The  same  principles  which  guided  Dr. 
Baillie  in  his  private  and  domestic  life,  gov- 
erned his  public  and  professional  behaviour. 
He  was  kind,  generous,  and  sincere.  His 
purse  and  his  personal  services  were  always 
at  the  command  of  those  who  could  prefer  a 
proper  claim  to  them;  and  every  branch  of 
the  profession  met  with  equal  attention. 
Nay,  such  was  his  condescension,  that  he  often 

*  In  the  Censor's  Room. 


246  BAILLIE. 

incurred  great  inconvenience  to  himself,  by  his 
punctual  observance  of  appointments  with  the 
humblest  practitioners. 

"  In  consultation,  he  was  candid  and  lib- 
eral in  the  highest  degree ;  and  so  industriously 
gave  credit  to  the  previous  treatment  of  the 
patient  (if  he  could  approve  of  it),  that  the 
physician  who  called  him  in,  never  failed  to 
find  himself  in  the  same  possession  of  the  good 
opinion  of  the  family  as  he  was  before  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case  had  made  a  consulta- 
tion necessary. 

"  His  manner  of  explaining  the  disease,  and 
the  remedies  recommended,  was  peculiar  to 
himself,  and  singularly  happy.  It  was  a  short 
compressed  lecture,  in  which  the  objects  in 
view,  and  the  means  by  which  they  were  to 
be  obtained,  were  developed  with  great  clear- 
ness of  conception,  and  in  such  simple  un- 
adorned language  as  was  intelligible  to  his  pa- 
tient, and  satisfactory  to  his  colleague. 

"  Before  his  time,  it  was  not  usual  for  a 
physician  to  do  much  more  than  prescribe 
remedies  for  the  malady,  and  to  encourage 
the  patient  by  such  arguments  of  consolation 
as  might  present  themselves  to  humane  and 


BAILLIE.  247 

cultivated  minds.  But  as  the  assumed  gravity 
and  outward  signs  of  the  profession  were  now 
considered  obsolete  customs,  and  were,  by  gen- 
eral consent,  laid  aside  by  the  physicians,  and 
as  a  more  curious  anxiety  began  to  be  ob- 
served on  the  part  of  the  patient  to  learn  every 
thing  connected  with  his  complaint,  arising 
naturally  from  the  improved  state  of  general 
knowledge,  a  different  conduct  became  neces- 
sary in  the  sick  room.  The  innovation  re- 
quired by  the  spirit  of  modern  times  never 
could  have  been  adopted  by  any  one  more 
fitted  by  nature  and  inclination  to  carry  it 
into  effect  than  by  Dr.  Baillie. 

"  The  attention  which  he  had  paid  to  mor- 
bid anatomy  (that  alteration  of  structure, 
which  parts  have  undergone  by  disease),  en- 
abled him  to  make  a  nice  discrimination  in 
symptoms,  and  to  distinguish  between  disor- 
ders which  resemble  each  other.  It  gave  him 
a  confidence  also  in  propounding  his  opinions, 
which  our  conjectural  art  does  not  readily  ad- 
mit; and  the  reputation,  which  he  enjoyed 
universally  for  openness  and  sincerity,  made 
his  dicta  be  received  with  a  ready  and  unresist- 
ing faith. 


248  BAILLIE. 

"  He  appeared  to  lay  a  great  stress  upon 
the  information  which  he  might  derive  from 
the  external  examination  of  his  patient,  and 
to  be  much  influenced  in  the  formation  of  his 
opinion  of  the  nature  of  the  complaint  by  this 
practice.  He  had  originally  adopted  this 
habit  from  the  peculiar  turn  of  his  early 
studies;  and  assuredly  such  a  method,  not  in- 
discriminately but  judiciously  employed,  as 
he  employed  it,  is  a  valuable  auxiliary  to  the 
other  ordinary  means  used  by  a  physician  of 
obtaining  the  knowledge  of  a  disease  submitted 
to  him.  But  it  is  equally  true  that,  notwith- 
standing its  air  of  mechanical  precision,  such 
examination  is  not  to  be  depended  upon  be- 
yond a  certain  point.  Great  disordered  ac- 
tion may  prevail  in  a  part  without  having  yet 
produced  such  disorganization  as  may  be  sensi- 
bly felt:  and  to  doubt  of  the  existence  of  a 
disease  because  it  is  not  discoverable  by  the 
touch,  is  not  only  unphilosophical,  but  must 
surely,  in  many  instances,  lead  to  unfounded 
and  erroneous  conclusions'.  One  of  the  in- 
evitable consequences  of  such  a  system  is  fre- 
quent disappointment  in  foretelling  the  issue 
of  the  malady,  that  most  important  of   all 


BAILLIE.  249 

points  to  the  reputation  of  a  physician;  and 
though  such  a  mode  of  investigation  might 
prove  eminently  successful  in  the  skilful  hands 
of  Dr.  Baillie,  it  must  be  allowed  to  be  an  ex- 
ample of  dangerous  tendency  to  those  who 
have  not  had  his  means  of  acquiring  knowl- 
edge, nor  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  his  great 
experience,  nor  have  learned,  by  the  previous 
steps  of  education  and  good  discipline,  to  rea- 
son and  judge  correctly.  The  quickness  with 
which  a  physician  of  keen  perception  and  great 
practice  makes  up  his  mind  on  the  nature  of 
a  disease,  and  the  plan  of  treatment  to  be  em- 
ployed, differs  as  widely  as  possible  from  the 
inconsiderate  haste  which  marks  the  decisions 
of  the  rash  and  the  uninformed. 

"  Dr.  Baillie  acquired  business  early  by  the 
credit  of  his  book  on  Morbid  Anatomy. 
From  the  date  of  its  first  publication  in  1793, 
its  materials  must  have  been  furnished  princi- 
pally by  a  careful  inspection  of  the  diseased 
preparations  collected  in  the  museum  of  his 
uncle,  Dr.  Hunter.  But  it  opened  a  new  and 
most  productive  field  of  curious  knowledge 
and  interesting  research  in  physic;  and  when 
he  came  to  add,  in  the  subsequent  editions 


250  BAILLIE. 

which  were  required,  an  account  of  the  symp- 
toms which  accompany  the  progressive  altera- 
tion made  in  the  natural  structure  of  parts  by 
some  diseases  during  the  life  of  the  patient, 
from  his  own  observation  and  experience,  he 
rendered  his  work  highly  valuable,  and  uni- 
versally popular.  Impressed  as  he  was  with 
the  great  importance  and  value  of  such  morbid 
preparations  in  assisting  the  physician  to  dis- 
criminate obscure  internal  diseases,  his  gen- 
erosity prompted  him,  after  the  example  of  the 
immortal  Harvey,  to  give,  in  his  lifetime,  his 
own  collection  to  the  College  of  Physicians. 
He  has  thus  laid  the  foundation  of  a  treasury 
of  knowledge,  for  which  posterity  will  owe 
him  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  latest  period, 

"  He  published  from  time  to  time  several 
medical  papers  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Col- 
lege, and  in  other  periodical  works ;  all  written 
in  a  plain  and  simple  style,  and  useful  as  con- 
taining the  observations  of  a  physician  of  such 
extensive  experience. 

"  But  justice  cannot  be  done  to  Dr.  Baillie's 
medical  character,  unless  that  important  fea- 
ture in  it  which  appeared  in  every  part  of  his 
conduct  and  demeanour,  his  religious  prin- 


BAILLIE.  251 

ciple,  be  distinctly  stated  and  recognised. 
His  ample  converse  with  one  of  the  most  won- 
derful works  of  the  Creator — the  formation  of 
man,  inspired  in  him  an  admiration  of  the  Su- 
preme Being  which  nothing  could  exceed. 
He  had,  indeed,  '  looked  through  Nature  up  to 
Nature's  God; '  and  the  promises  of  the  gos- 
pel, on  the  conditions  explained  by  our  Re- 
deemer, were  his  humble  but  confident  hope 
in  life,  and  his  consolation  in  death. 

"  If  one  precept  appeared  to  be  more  prac- 
tically approved  by  him  than  another,  it  was 
that  which  directs  us  to  do  unto  others  as  we 
would  have  them  do  unto  us ;  and  this  was  felt 
and  acknowledged  daily  by  all  his  professional 
brethren  in  their  intercourse  with  him. 

"  On  the  whole,  we  may  say  of  him,  what 
Tacitus  does  of  Agricola — Bonum  virum  fa- 
cile crederes;  magnum  libenter." 

The  sentiments  of  the  College  itself  towards 
Dr.  Baillie  may  be  collected  from  the  follow- 
ing tribute  to  his  memory,  which  was  ordered 
to  be  inserted  in  their  Annals  on  the  30th 
September,  1823. 

"  That  our  posterity  may  know  the  extent 


252 


BAILLIE. 


of  its  obligation  to  the  benefactor  whose  death 
we  all  deplore,  be  it  recorded,  that  Dr.  Baillie 
gave  the  whole  of  his  most  valuable  collection 
of  anatomical  preparations  to  the  College,  and 
six  hundred  pounds  for  the  preservation  of 
the  same;  and  this,  too,  after  the  example  of 
the  illustrious  Harvey,  in  his  lifetime.     His 

*  Portico  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  Pali-Mall  East. 


BAILLIE.  253 

contemporaries  need  not  an  enumeration  of 
his  many  virtues  to  account  for  their  respectful 
attachment  to  him  whilst  he  lived,  or  to  justify 
the  profound  grief  which  they  feel  at  his  death. 
But  to  the  rising  generation  of  physicians,  it 
may  be  useful  to  hold  up  for  an  example  his 
remarkable  simplicity  of  heart,  his  strict  and 
clear  integrity,  his  generosity,  and  that  re- 
ligious principle  by  which  his  conduct  seemed 
always  to  be  governed,  as  well  calculated  to 
secure  to  them  the  respect  and  good-will  of 
their  colleagues  and  the  profession  at  large, 
and  the  high  estimation  and  confidence  of  the 
public." 


But  I  have  done.  It  has  already  been  ex- 
plained how  I  came  to  occupy  my  present 
position;  and  having  once  passed  under  the 
splendid  portico  of  the  New  College,  I  am 
afraid  there  is  no  chance  of  my  ever  emerging 
from  the  dark  recess  I  occupy  in  its  library. 

The  publication  of  the  First  Edition  of  my 
history  has  at  least  procured  for  me  one  of 
the  advantages  I  ventured  to  anticipate:  for 
having  become  to  a  certain  degree  an  object 
of    curiosity,    my   seclusion   has    occasionally 


254  BAILLIE. 

been  broken  in  upon  by  a  temporary  exhibi- 
tion to  a  visitor.  Upon  the  whole,  however, 
my  leisure  has  been  so  little  interrupted,  that 
I  have  had  abundant  time  to  recollect  more 
fully  the  various  scenes,  which  I  have  wit- 
nessed; and  it  is  to  be  hoped,  that  these  addi- 
tional memoirs  will  be  given  to  the  world  by 
the  Registrar  of  the  College  with  the  same 
scrupulous  regard  to  truth  that  formed  the 
sole  merit  of  my  first  imperfect  narrative. 


THE   EXD 


IXDEX. 


INDEX. 


Amen  Corner,  The  College  of 
Physicians  in,  117 

Anatomy,  87 

Anne,  Queen,  27^18;  her  ill- 
ness, 48;  and  death,  35; 
Radeliffe  blamed  by  the 
public,  36 

Antimony,  its  use  and  disuse 
in  medicine,  99 

Arcanum  Goddardianum,   203 

Aristophanes,  Harney's  notes 
and  criticisms  on,  101 

Ascites,  tapping  in,  70 

Aselli,  92 

Askew,  Dr.,  149;  a  great  trav- 
eller, 150;  a  great  book 
collector,  151 ;  makes  bib- 
liomania  fashionable,   155 


Baillie,  Dr.  Matthew,  225; 
his  appearance  and  man- 
ner, 229;  treatise  on  mor- 
bid anatomy,  226;  his 
practice,  230 

Baker,  Sir  George,  his  pro- 
found attainments,  115; 
his  Latin  pleasantries, 
217,  218 


257 


Banks,     Sir     Joseph,     P.R.S., 

227 

Baronet,  the  first  medical,  54 

Bibliotheca  Askeviana,  157 

Bidloo,  Dr.,  8-22 

Boerhaave,  240 

British  Museum,  193 

Burnet,  Bishop,  his  last  ill- 
ness, 52;  attended  by  Sir 
Hans  Sloane,  Cheyne,  and 
Mead,  52 


Caius,  Dr.,  86 

Caldwall,  Dr.,  and  Lord  Lum- 
ley  found  lectures  at  the 
College  of  -Physicians,  89 

Cane,  The  Gold-Headed,  its 
origin,  4,  184;  its  descrip- 
tion, xix;  in  seclusion,  253 

Charles  I,  Halford's  connec- 
tion with,  xiii 

Charles  II,  at  the  Royal  Soci- 
ety, 203;  an  experimenter, 
204;  bled  by  Sir  Edmund 
King,  189 

Cheyne,  Dr.,  his  enormous 
weight,  54;  attends  his 
relation,  Bishop  Burnet, 
in  his  last  illness,  55 

Cheselden,  the  surgeon,  134 
(note) 


258 


INDEX. 


Cinchona  bark,  97 

College  of  Physicians,  open- 
ing of  the,  2;  sites  of,  in 
Knight  Rider  Street,  114; 
in  Amen  Corner,  117;  in 
Warwick  Lane,  131;  un- 
der presidency  of  Sir 
Henry  Halford,  xvi 

Consultations,   medical,   56 

Cullen,  Dr.,  177 

Cumberland,  the  Duke  of, 
takes  the  electric  shock  at 
the  point  of  the  sword 
with  which  he  fought  the 
battle  of  Culloden,  145 

D 

Diet,   importance   of,   233 
Dorchester,  the  Marquis  of,  a 

Fellow  of  the  College  of 

Physicians,  103 

E 

Edwards,  George,  the  natural- 
ist, his  book  on  birds,  186; 
his  visits  to  Sir  Hans 
Sloane  at  Chelsea,  190 

Ent,  Sir  George,  his  interview 
with  Harvey,  111;  ob- 
tains the  MS.,  "  Exercita- 
tiones  de  Generatione 
Animalium,"  112;  is 
Knighted  by  Charles  II. 
in  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians, 125 

Esculapius,  the  mourning,  30 

Eugene,  the  Prince,  30 


F 


Fees,  medical,  38 


Fire  of  London,  127 

Fox,  Dr.,  his  deathbed  and 
farewell  to  Harney,  106 

Freind,  Dr.,  committed  to  the 
Tower,  72;  visited  there 
by  Mead,  73;  liberated 
through  Mead's  interven- 
tion, 75;  at  Mead's  house, 
78 

G 

Garth,  Sir  Samuel,  104 
George,   Prince   of   Denmark, 

27 
Glisson,  Dr.,  90 
Goddard,  Dr.,  201 
Greaves,     Sir     Edward,     the 

first  medical  baronet,  54 

H 

Halford,  Sir  Henry,  his  life 
and  career,  xii-xiv 

Haller,  241 

Hamey,  Dr.  Baldwin,  101; 
liberality  to  the  College 
of  Physicians,  inscription 
to,  124 

Harvey,  William,  the  discov- 
erer of  the  circulation  of 
the  blood,  92;  Sir  George 
Ent's  interview  with  him, 
111;  "Generation  of  Ani- 
mals," 112;  his  "Mu- 
seum "  at  the  College  in 
Amen  Corner,  118;  his 
preparations  of  vessels 
and  nerves  on  tablets  of 
wood,  121;  record  of  his 
death,  124;  bust,  by 
Scheemaker,  109;  inscrip- 
tion, 187 


INDEX. 


259 


Heberden,  Dr.,  the  elder,  160, 
165;  his  literary  tastes 
and  associates,  167;  his 
liberality,  168;  his  ad- 
dress and  high  principles, 
171 
Hulse,  Sir  Edward,  162 
Hunter,  Dr.  William,  viii, 
225 


Inoculation  of  small-pox,  65 
Isiaca,  the  Tabula  or  Mensa, 
34 


Jenner,  announces  vaccination 
discovery,  242 


K 


Kensington  Palace  in  1689,  6 
King,  Sir  Edmund,  189 
Kneller,      Sir      Godfrey,      15 

(note) 
Knight   Rider   Street,  College 

of  Physicians  in,  114 


Library  of  College  of  Physi- 
cians, 185 

Linacre,  the  first  Preident  of 
the  College,  81;  his  por- 
trait, 7 

Lower,  Dr.,  on  transfusion  of 
blood,  93 

Luke,  St.,  the  Evangelist,  a 
physician,  his  Greek  more 
classical  than  that  of  the 
other  evangelists,  74 


Lumley,  Lord,  and  Dr.  Cald- 
wall,  found  lectures  at  the 
College  of  Physicians,  89 

Lymphatics,  their  discovery, 
92 


M 

Macmichael,  William,  life  of, 
xi,  xii;  appointed  Physi- 
cian to  the  King,  xiv; 
works  of,  xv;  death  of, 
xvi 

Mary,  Queen  of  William  III, 
9 

Materia  Medica,  additions  to, 
96 

Mayow,  Dr.,  his  theory  of 
respiration,  92 

Mead,  Dr.,  an  accomplished 
and  liberal  scholar,  vii, 
32 ;  on  plague  and  quaran- 
tine, 62;  inoculation  of 
small-pox,  65  j  tapping  in 
dropsy,  70;  his  politics, 
71;  his  library  and  col- 
lections, 79;  his  liberality 
to  scholars,  143;  great 
hospitality,  145;  his  pro- 
fessional income,  146 ; 
"  Monita  et  Praecepta 
Medica,"  147;  bust  of,  by 
Roubiliac,   152 

Middleton,  Dr.  Conyers,  81 

Mithridatium,    160 

Munk,  Dr.,  on  Sir  Henry 
Halford,  xiv;  on  physi- 
cians'  canes,  xix 

Museum  of  Harvey,  opening 
of,  120 


260 


INDEX. 


N 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  last  ill- 
ness of,  134 

Nias,  Dr.,  v 

Nicholls,  Dr.  Frank,  123 
(note) 


Page,  Dame  Mary,  extraor- 
dinary case  of,  70 

Pecquet,  discovery  of  the 
thoracic  duct,  92 

Philosophical  Transactions, 
201 

Pitcairn,        Dr.        Archibald, 
founder      of     mechanical 
sect  of  medicine,  174 
Dr.  David,   174-218;   illness 

and  death  of,  222 
Dr.  William,  174;  the  lead- 
ing physician  in  the  city, 
195 

Plague,  the  contagiousness  of, 
62,  127 

Polish  dinner,  a,  206 

Poniatowsky,   Prince,  204 

Pringle,  Sir  John,  President 
of  the  Royal  Society,  140; 
his  addresses  on  delivery 
of  the  Copley  medal,  142 

Q 

Quarantine,  Dr.  Mead  on,  63 
Quinin,  discovery  of,  97 

R 

Radcliffe,  Dr.,  his  medical 
skill,    17;    his    coarseness 


and  plainness,  8,  18;  his 
prognosis,  19;  in  love,  30; 
his  matrimonial  inten- 
tions marred,  14;  blamed 
for  death  bf  Queen  Anne, 
36;  his  history,  37;  his 
fees  and  income,  39;  his 
bequests,  40  (note),  vi; 
his  death,  50 

Radcliffe  Infirmary,  v 

Ron  j  at,  Mons.,  le  premier 
chirurgien  du  Roi,  23,,  24 

Roubiliac,  his  bust  of  Mead, 
and  extortionate  demand, 
153 

Royal  Society,  its  early  his- 
tory, 140,  199;  the  quali- 
fications for  President  of, 
139;  Philosophical  Trans- 
actions, 201 


Selden,  John,  123 

Shaw,  Dr.  Peter,  183 

Sloane,  Sir  Hans,  54,  et  seq.; 
in  the  West  Indies,  59; 
President  of  the  College 
of  Physicians  and  the 
Royal  Society,  62,  140;  in 
his  retirement  at  Chelsea, 
191;  his  botanical  gar- 
dens at  Chelsea,  192;  the 
British  Museum,  193 

Small-pox,  242;  inoculation 
of,  65;  Dr.  Mead's  ad- 
vocacy of,  67 

Stahl,  metaphysical  theory  of, 
240 

Sydenham,  235;  his  merits, 
237;  on  quinin,  98 


INDEX. 


261 


Talbor,      Sir      Richard,      on 

quinin  in  fever,  98,  99 
Tabula,  Isiaca,  34 


Vaccination,      discovery      by 

Jenner,  242 
Vanbutchel,  Mrs.,  the  mummy 

of,  218 
Vaughan,      Henry,      see      Sir 

Henry    Halford,    xii,    et 

seq 

W 

Warren,    Dr.     Richard,     175; 


his  Harveian  oration, 
184;  his  character  and 
eminent  qualifications  as 
a  physician,  196 

Warwick  Lane,  the  College 
of  Physicians  in,  131, 
185 

Watson,   Sir  Thomas,  on  Dr. 
MacmichaeL  xvi 
Sir     William,     his     experi- 
ments in  electricity,  145 

William  III.,  8,  12,  21;  char- 
acter of,  24 

Willis,  Dr.  Thomas,  his  merits 
as  an  anatomist,  95 

Wilmot,  Sir  Edward,  182 


Date  Due 

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JUL  ^  Ql< 

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